Modest Mouse "No One's First and You're Next"

Modest Mouse's 2007 release, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, cemented the band as a mainstream concern, in that it reached #1 in the US Billboard chart - something which would have been inconceivable for the band at the start of the century. Even third album The Moon & Antarctica - tamer than the efforts that preceded it - was still abrasive enough to dissuade most people. That said, the transformation the band have undergone makes perfect sense in the context of their entire oeuvre - it feels like a natural progression, rather than the result of a band actively striving to make more commercially viable music. But whichever way you look at it, it's hard not to argue that the results of this change have been much less interesting than their earlier output.

No One's First and You're Next exists in order to bring together unreleased tracks and B-sides recorded over the last five years or so. As would be expected from such a release, there are songs that can be described as throwaway: "Perpetual Motion Machine" and "History Sticks To Your Feet" are easily dismissed as inconsequential. "King Rat," meanwhile, simultaneously calls to mind "Dance Hall" and "Bukowski," although you wouldn't want it taking the place of either.

That's not to say that all the songs are misfires, though. It's interesting to try and find spaces for the better material of this collection on the last Modest Mouse album - of the stand-out tracks, opener "Satellite Skin" follows the template laid out by singles "Float On" and "Dashboard," whilst not quite matching their heights; "Autumn Beds" is a laid back, banjo-driven tune with a fantastic melody that should have taken the place of the similar but vastly inferior "Little Motels"; meanwhile, the epic/rambling squall of "The Whale Song" is much more interesting than "Parting of the Sensory" or "Spitting Venom." What these songs illustrate is that the band could have offered a much better album than We Were Dead (which trails off spectacularly after a strong four-song opening salvo). It's not that they didn't have the songs - they simply chose the wrong ones. Even "Guilty Cocker Spaniels" and "I've Got It All (Most)" are decent enough to have improved We Were Dead significantly.

Ultimately, then, No One's First and You're Next proves to be more interesting than their last full album, although it remains to be seen which direction the band will choose to move in come their next release. After all, this is essentially a deck-clearing exercise - hopefully, its release constitutes the band drawing this chapter of their history to a close, and moving onto to something a little different.