Modest Mouse (Weekend Two only)

Sadly, Modest Mouse is not coming to Weekend One.  Those of us who have purchased Weekend One tickets get stuck with The Strokes (and Alabama Shakes, so not all bad) while Weekend Two people get Florence and the Machine and Modest Mouse (and Future, for that matter).  I know I said I was only looking at Weekend One bands, but when your most prolific commenter feels sadness because you won't talk about the band he is most excited to see for the whole of ACL, you listen and make it happen.  (but with 32 additional groups on Weekend Two only, I'm not doing them all.  I'm only a man, not a machine.)

Modest Mouse is indie rock that became popular without me in the early oughts.  I knew their first hit or two ("Float On" and "Ocean Breathes Salty") and generally liked those songs well enough, but felt intimidated by the rest of the music to the point where I never really gave them a try.  After a concerted effort for the past two full days, I have now listened to their three most recent albums a handful of times each and feel like I get it.  There are three categories I think their songs fall in to: (1) excellent funky rock that is built to be fun ("Float On," "Ocean Breathes Salty," "The View"); (2) more simple, introspective tunes ("Bukowski" "Strangers to Ourselves"); and (3) weird stuff where they let their inner freak out of the cage ("Bury Me With It," "Dancehall," or "The Devil's Workday").

Their most popular tracks are type 1, such as "Float On," "Lampshades on Fire," "Dashboard," and my favorite from their new album (2015's Strangers to Ourselves), "The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box."

Creeptastic video, yo.  With barely over 3 million listens on Spotify, this is about the 8th most popular track from MM, but I dig the funky beat and tight cadence of the odd lyrics. That song is a good time.  And I feel the same way on the other funky, fun tunes in the catalog.

Of type 2, "The World at Large," from 2004's Good News for People who Love Bad News is the top hit, with about 14.2 million listens.  But I think "Missed the Boat," from 2007's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank is the better tune.  Serious album titles, right?

About 7.4 million listens.  Kind of a Shins/R.E.M.-type sound going on in that track.  It is another good one.  I think that 2007 album is my favorite of these three.

And then comes the type 3's, none of which are represented in the most popular songs on Spotify, and which just throw me off of my enjoyment for the albums.  On the new album, its definitely "Pistol" that fits this bill, which sounds like a bad Ween song.  But I'll give you "The Devil's Workday" to try on for size.

About 1.3 million listens.  Right in between the lovely "Bukowski" and the funky "The View" on the album, with this squealing, toneless annoyance of a song.

But, if you remove those type 3's from their albums, they make good music and would be a ball to see play live.  This would be a good band to get a mixtape of from my sister, like she did with Phish 20-something years ago.  I doubt they'd even play that weird garbage in their shows.  They remind me of the Decemberists, as a group who fires out albums that aren't necessarily built for pop success, and are thick with wordy lyrics and few and far between sing-along hits, but when you dig into them, you'll find something you like.  And by the way, my experience with them only scratches the surface.  

They have 7 other albums from before Good News for People Who Love Bad News (1996's This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About, 1996's Interstate 8, 1997's The Lonesome Crowded West, 2000's The Moon & Antarctica, 2000's Building Nothing out of Something, 2001's Sad Happy Sucker, and 2004's Baron Von Bullshit Rides Again).  That is a prolific output.  Good band - I'll keep listening to them.