Modest Mouse – Strangers to Ourselves

After a long break (8 years) Modest Mouse is back with what you could almost call a comeback album.  Comeback because, as is indicated in the title, it has been so long since they have written and recorded they are musical strangers even to themselves. As groups in the seventies did, this album seems like one big, long song. It requires time and a dedicated listener to get through it all. You don’t fall into a lull because there is almost a frenetic change of musical styles and lyrics that come at you at almost a machine gun pace. In other words, it is filled with energy. It is pretty much a must to listen to it as a whole because once you start dividing it up into the fifteen tracks you begin to realize there are a few duds to be found but when put them all together somehow it works. Don’t expect anything new sounding here from the band though their fans will certainly be pleased they are back and still plodding away at the brand of quirky indie rock they have claimed as their own.