Title: The Modest Mouse sound
Product review: Great CD, though I rate it slightly below The Lonesome Crowded West. Rather than attempt profound analysis of MM's suburban existential angst, etc etc, I want to focus on the most salient feature that makes them who they are. It's so obvious yet I've never seen it commented on: the MM sound is defined by multi-tracked vocals. Most commonly it's simultaneous singing and speaking of lyrics, but there's plenty of variations including unsteady octaves and good old sloppy unison shouting. This is in my opinion a brilliant technique that imparts a kind of organic dissonance to almost every song. It's their hallmark, their secret weapon, and probably their most polarizing feature to the new listener. I love it, but could just as easily see someone turned off by the deliberate "non-musicality" of the approach. Obviously there's much more to say about MM and many have expressed it beautifully, but in my opinion this is where it starts.
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