Voilà! hasn't made mention of Modest Mouse before. Which is a very curious event, seeing as not only are they one of the greatest experimental, wild, quirky, and unique artists of the past decade and a half, but they play their own style flawlessly, every time. They're by far one of the most influential indie rock outfits of the past sixteen years, and certainly aren't going anywhere. And with such records like The Lonesome Crowded West and The Moon & Antarctica under their belt, they don't really need to. They can sit on their throne built of off-kilter rock music, and watch the rest of their musical peers dance in circles, like little bemused rats pretending they can compare.
Speaking of rats, have you heard of "King Rat" yet? I hadn't, even though it has been released for almost a month now. After getting the hook-up from Oney T. via the Lookbook.nu forums, I had to explore, and boy, did I find a proverbial treasure trove of intrigue, all under Modest Mouse's heading.
Firstly, and most importantly, Modest Mouse have released a new mini-album, as of August 4th, under the title No One's First and You're Next. The album was released somewhat quietly (considering Modest Mouse is such a big player in the contemporary music scene), unless you were paying specific attention to Modest Mouse or their Myspace. More like a long EP, this 30 minute long collection was assembled from the bits and bobs that were left lying about the musical floor of Modest Mouse's recording studios over the past six years, including b-sides from both Good News for People Who Love Bad News and We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. How these songs didn't end up on either album is a mystery to both you and I. But now that we have them, I don't think we should do much complaining.
No One's First and You're Next flows like you'd expect any Modest Mouse record to, all filled with twisted pop songs gone wrong, and crazy rock songs gone just right. The sextet holds firm to their somewhat rollercoaster stylings, songs going a bit in every direction at once, both confusing while making perfect sense at the same time. But while they got some help with the music video for "Satellite Skin" (directed by Kevin Willis, who's normally responsible for Tool's music videos), it was Modest Mouse's video for "King Rat" that really stuck out. Not only is this the most bizarre song off No One's First..., part of the intrigue is no doubt due in part to its original director, the late Heath Ledger.
Oh yes, that Heath Ledger, your acting friend who haunted Brokeback, and haunted you as Joker; he was the original director of the video for "King Rat," prior to his passing. It was animated While co-directed by Daniel Auber after Ledger's exuent, and animated by Norris Houk and Jade Taglioli, the story is credited to Heath Legder himself. In mutual coordination between Isacc Brock and Heath, Ledger invisioned a twisted, derranged video in protest to illegal whale poaching practices in our modern day. The video is a must see before the turn of this decade.
You can snag yourself a copy of No One's First and You're Next by Modest Mouse right now wherever you can find it (including iTunes). You can catch the extremely weird video for "Satellite Skin" here, or you can stick around Voilà! a bit longer, and watch "King Rat" right here (or here for a really sexy hi-def version). Listen, reader, and open that mind to the strife in the world around you.
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