//: Decade- Modest Mouse- The Moon and Antarctica
Modest Mouse’s album “The Moon & Antarctica” dropped in 2000 and began spitting futuristic thoughts of past-perceptions through a rough folk looking glass. This is an extremely well angled album with lots of unexpected but more than welcome twists and turns that mirror the lyrical notion of mapping the ever elusive, multi-dimensional universe in which we find ourselves rolling around in the mud. A lot of bands celebrate possibility in their music but few have pulled it together in such a strange way and been able to achieve such a high level of popularity in all sorts of different musical circles.
While the band didn’t become popular in the mainstream until the “Good News For People Who Love Bad News,” album in 2004, a large part of what Modest Mouse has meant to me is a tribute to their earlier, more obscure albums in the late 90′s. I was pretty young at the time and still digging bands like New Found Glory (which i still dig) and hating on rap music (which I now adore) so it was unlikely I would have enjoyed their work upon release. After hearing “The Moon and Antarctica” and “Good News…” I found myself wanting more and the albums of the late 90′s ended up being among my favorites. So I appreciate Modest Mouse for keeping at it and going mainstream. I feel like they met a lot of people halfway doing this and opened up a lot of minds. It’s cool to be a great band that no one knows about but I been through being cool since 99′ so that’s not really what it’s about.
