Modest Mouse to me has always been the ideal Seattle band that made it out on the world stage in a big way. It really breaks my heart that they hardly play shows in Seattle, let alone even the US! I understand that Europe has a much more thriving music scene and you’ve got to play where you can make some money (Coachella and related Festivals), but to a guy like me, it kinda sucks that I’ve never seen Modest Mouse live although I live where they came from.
I wrote a post on how Good News for People who Love Bad News was one of the most formative albums of my 14 year old life, and since then, I haven’t heard a record I haven’t loved from them. 1997’s The Lonesome Crowded West has been and remains to be my all-time favorite album that the band has put out. Although the record is now 16 years old, every track still holds massive value and is still current in my opinion.
The Lonesome Crowded West
I’ve had long discussions about which of their records is best, some say it’s We Were Dead Before the Ship Sank, others hold to The Moon and Antartica, but for some reason, not many casual Modest Mouse listeners hold the same affinity to Lonesome that I do. I find that there is way more to the record than the tracks, it’s the order of the tracks that creates this world in which the record exists. My favorite tracks on the record go as follows:
- “Heart Cooks Brain”
- “Polar Opposites”
- “Trailer Trash”
- “Lounge (Closing Time)”
- “Bankrupt On Selling”
It’s hard for me to even pick 5 tracks that I would consider my “Favorite”, but I would say that these 5 are the ones that I listen to most.
So why will this album never get old? Simply put, I haven’t stopped loving it yet.
Do you have those kind of records that you don’t stop listening to? What is it? Why do you love it?
