# Does anyone here listen to the band Modest Mouse? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 24, 2000, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-listen-to-the-band-modest-mouse/42512 "2000-11-24T06:54:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RocknRoll\_Killing\_Machine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5daacb/32.png) [@RocknRoll\_Killing\_Machine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RocknRoll_Killing_Machine)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 6:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-listen-to-the-band-modest-mouse/42512/1 "2000-11-24T06:54:41Z")
For those who do, what would be a good album to pick up? ---
**Author:** ![pezpunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@pezpunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pezpunk)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-listen-to-the-band-modest-mouse/42512/2 "2000-11-24T12:59:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Havok \* > \*\*For those who do, what would be a good album to pick up? \*\* I have lonesome crowded west. It’s a pretty good cd. Problem with modest mouse is that they are two damn repititive. They play the same riff/vocals for an average of 6 minutes. Personally I’d say your better off picking up some old sebadoh or pavement. Indie rock at it’s best. ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-listen-to-the-band-modest-mouse/42512/3 "2000-11-24T16:59:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by pezpunk \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Havok \* > > \*\*For those who do, what would be a good album to pick up? \*\* > > Problem with modest mouse is that they are two damn repititive. They play the same riff/vocals for an average of 6 minutes. Personally I’d say your better off picking up some old sebadoh or pavement. Indie rock at it’s best. \*\* I wholeheartedly agree. Read a lot of good press on these guys, but I have to admit I find them just OK. “Bakesale” by Sebadoh is a great album, and I’d start with “Slanted And Enchanted” by Pavement - it’s pretty cheap nowadays. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-listen-to-the-band-modest-mouse/42512/4 "2000-11-24T17:53:18Z")
Modest Mouse is _pretty good_. A lot of the hip little indie rockers seem to think that they’re they greatest thing since sliced Fugazi, but I don’t think so. _The Lonesome Crowded West_ is a cool album. Also their newest album, _The Moon and Antarctica_ is pretty decent. I’d also recommend picking up _Bakesale_ or _Bubble and Scrape_ by Sebadoh. Both are kickass. However, (and this is what got my indie rawk membership card revoked) I **can’t stand** Pavement. I don’t know what it is, I heard _Slanted and Enchanted_ when it first came out, and didn’t like them then. I’ve heard several of their albums since then, and I just can’t get into it. I was once at a party in college and all the kiddies were talking about “Oh, I drove 7 hours to see Pavement–they’re fantastic…” And “I’d drive 10 hours to see them…you’re so lucky…” Well, I had more then a few drinks in me by that point, and I kind of lost it. “Pavement SUCKS!! What do you like about them??? You drove 7 hours to see them?!? I wouldn’t walk down the hall to see them if they were handing out free tacos and beer at the door!”. Needless to say, I wasn’t invited back. [sub]Whoa, that was a tangent, huh? I haven’t been awake very long, sorry.[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![woodstockbirdybird](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/woodstockbirdybird/32/7905_2.png) [@woodstockbirdybird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/woodstockbirdybird)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2000, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-listen-to-the-band-modest-mouse/42512/5 "2000-11-24T18:24:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mouthbreather \* > \*\* > > However, (and this is what got my indie rawk membership card revoked) I **can’t stand** Pavement. I don’t know what it is, I heard _Slanted and Enchanted_ when it first came out, and didn’t like them then. I’ve heard several of their albums since then, and I just can’t get into it. I was once at a party in college and all the kiddies were talking about “Oh, I drove 7 hours to see Pavement–they’re fantastic…” And “I’d drive 10 hours to see them…you’re so lucky…” Well, I had more then a few drinks in me by that point, and I kind of lost it. “Pavement SUCKS!! What do you like about them??? You drove 7 hours to see them?!? I wouldn’t walk down the hall to see them if they were handing out free tacos and beer at the door!”. > > [sub]Whoa, that was a tangent, huh? I haven’t been awake very long, sorry.[/sub] \*\* You know, I’m pretty much in agreement with you. I had a bunch of friends who worked on the college station when S&E came out who went insane for the album, proclaiming it the best in 10 years, blah blah blah, and I didn’t get it. I generally prefer emotion to intellectualism in my music, and Pavement seemed (and still seem) to be willfully obscurantist and insular (“we’re too hip to bother with actually SAYING anything with our songs…”). However, if you’re going to buy an album of theirs, I’d still recommend S&E. It at least has a somewhat raw sound, and some nice screamed vocals on a few cuts. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_farley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9d8465/32.png) [@jb\_farley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_farley)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2000, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-listen-to-the-band-modest-mouse/42512/6 "2000-11-26T21:07:11Z")
W/ Modest Mouse, Newer is Better. Moon and Antarctica is a very good album, but it still doesn’t beat Lonesome Crowded West. Then again, it’s one of my favorite albums, so I’m slightly biased. jb oh, and p.s.- Pavement ROCKS!!! ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-listen-to-the-band-modest-mouse/42512/7 "2000-11-27T06:30:57Z")
I almost bought a Modest Mouse album once, but I looked on the back and noticed that two or three of their songs didn’t have titles. With the possible exception of unlisted bonus tracks, not giving titles to songs is the most overly precious, irritatingly ultrahip thing you can do with an album, I think. How hard is it to title a song? So I declined the purchase. I have “Slanted and Enchanted.” I love the first two tracks and pretty much nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![Critter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/77aa72/32.png) [@Critter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critter)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-listen-to-the-band-modest-mouse/42512/8 "2000-11-27T20:12:30Z")
I personally don’t see the attraction to Pavement - or Sebadoh for that matter either. I was brought up in more of a **Jesus Lizard** vein myself. However, back to the OP, I like _Moon and Antarctica_. Personally, my favorite album that rocks, but still has hooks is _Emergency & I_ by **Dismemberment Plan**. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2000, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-here-listen-to-the-band-modest-mouse/42512/9 "2000-11-27T21:14:24Z")
> [@](#): > > I was brought up in more of a Jesus Lizard vein… Then I guess you recognize my username? 🙂 I’d have to say that _Liar_ is probably my all time favorite album, and that JL was the best band over the past 10 years. I got to see them 4 or 5 times also, first on the _Goat_ tour and finally on the _Shot_ tour. That band could put on a live show, dadgummit.