Modest Mouse has ultimately set themselves up for failure. The band's early albums were such gems that keeping that kind of sustained excellence is nearly impossible. Isaac Bruce and his mates walked the edge of alt-rock while carving out their own niche in a way few bands could.
Often, the issue with this is that a band tends to copy itself, ultimately becoming a cover band of its own. Modest Mouse has avoided this by never making the same album twice. The challenge there, however, is that the depth of the records can be called into question.
Bands don't make The Moon & Antarctica, or We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, more than once. Groups like Modest Mouse don't even try, which means those reviewing the group's albums tend to compare the new output versus the old, which is a difficult level to reach.
Modest Mouse's latest album, An Eraser and a Maze, might not be a longtime fan's favorite
Does Modest Mouse's latest bon mot, An Eraser and a Maze, match the quality of those two previously named albums? No, and that's likely impossible. The question is whether it is still better than most of what music lovers will hear in modern rock, and there, the answer is yes.
Longtime fans should not expect sudden outbursts from Bruce vocally. Those jolts were always shocking, even when one assumed they were coming. Instead, the new album is more of a guitar-driven group of tunes that hit home, but with some brutally disappointing bits.
"Third Side of the Moon" shines, for instance, and could fit on the band's early 2000s records, which further proves the group has it in them to be brilliant. The level of excellence doesn't come as often as albums such as Good News for People Who Love Bad News.
Tracks like "Dogbed in Heaven/Give It a Skeleton," though, strain to be heard the same way the more oft-changing tunes of some of the band's best do, but there simply isn't enough discord within the tune. Fans want anger and sweetness, but the tune stops short of both extremes.
"Stoner Party" seems like an outtake from the elite "Black Cadillacs" from 2004, and not a real song. Somehow, it made the new album, but it shouldn't have. It detracts from an otherwise coherent mess. And "mess," in terms of Modest Mouse, is a word that could mean perfection.
Meanwhile, "Speak 'N Spell" will remind some of the wonderful "3rd Planet." Both tunes worthy of being heard, and for multiple listens.
"Look How Far..." sounds like a Jack White track mixed with old-school Modest Mouse, and in the best way. The song implies what the album could have been with just a few tweaks.
Overall, An Eraser and a Maze might find some new fans for the band. Longtime fans might be disappointed, however. There is weirdness to the record, but simply not enough of it.
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