Modest Mouse is the indie band du jour, and with good reason: their latest effort, Good News For People Who Like Bad News is full of catchy, well-written songs that are infused with both intelligence and emotion. A pretty rare combination, if you ask me. However, I think some of their stronger songs are actually on their 2000 release, The Moon & Antarctica. Since discovering this album, I've often wondered why mainstream success did not latch itself on to Modest Mouse 4 years earlier than it did. The lyrics are overall a bit darker than the more recent Modest Mouse offering, but the stronger songs are better than the strong songs on Good News... The first 6 tracks get the CD off to an excellent start, especially tracks 1 ("3rd Planet") and 5 ("Tiny Cities Made of Ashes"), but the momentum falls off with tracks 7, 8 and 9, which act like a boulder in the middle of this flowing river of music - strong on their own, but accomplishing little other than breaking up the flow of the album. Tracks 10 ("Wild Packs of Family Dogs") and 11 ("Paper Thin Walls") return the album back to form. I especially like the lyrics in track 11: "Everyone's a voyeurist, they're watching me watch them watch me right now". The guitar is wonderful, the lyrics are strong, and really, 8 very strong songs on one CD is about 7 more than you get from most bands nowadays. While there are a few weak spots, you should really check out The Moon & Antarctica.
Score: 8/10
Score: 8/10