We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank

File this one under "I didn't see that one coming."

I rarely talk about music anymore, but I'm breaking my silence because I'm just so surprised. To some of you, this may not be new, but in my non-English speaking corner of the world most news travels slowly. Except of course that I knew before most of you that Anna Nicole Smith left the land of the living the other night. Thanks to my Google News homepage, I keep up with what's important.

Anyway, what I wanted to talk about today is Modest Mouse. Now they've been around for a good, long while slowly but surely amassing quite a following. Interestingly, the last live show I went to was Modest Mouse at the new Black Cat in Washington, DC just after it opened. It was around the time that my band broke up and my old roommate D- dragged me out to cheer me up. Modest Mouse was not the kind of band that appeals to the DC music scensters, so we figured that I wouldn't run into anyone I know, you know all those people that might stare at me with an uncomfortable mix if pity and smugness.

I'd known about Modest Mouse for ages, but this show was the first time I really listened to them. I've been a fan ever since, and their albums remain in heavy rotation on my iPod. See, they sit well next to my favorite band, The Flaming Lips, with their dopey-sounding yet insightful lyrics and unexpected melodies that are at once playful and dark. Also like The Flaming Lips, they've mellowed and matured over time like a fine Belgian beer - it goes down a bit smoother, but it still has a kick. I was especially keyed when I read that The Flaming Lips mixed the song "The Good Times are Killing Me" from the "Good News for People who Love Bad News" album. Yes sir.

Mouse

Fast forward to yesterday. I'm listening to a podcast of "All Songs Considered", an NPR show that recently turned up on iTunes (I couldn't get by without iTunes), when they start playing the new Modest Mouse single, "Dashboard." I'm thinking it sounds a bit different, brighter somehow. It has an 80's quality, but in a good way, that seems a bit odd for a band that's been around since the early 1990s. When the song finished, the podcast DJ guy informs me that Johnny Marr is now a member of Modest Mouse.

Huh what?

Johnny Marr was, of course, the guitarist of The Smiths, whose break up was one of the most shocking and shattering things to happen to me in high school, not the least because I never got to see them live. The break up was topped only by the release of the insipid song, "Friday I'm in Love," which marked the end, not the beginning of the end, of The Cure. After both of those incidents, I lost faith in music that aims to be meaningful or make a big statement, resulting in my still-lingering preference for electronica and garage bands.

In one of the most unlikely yet perfect pairings, Johnny Marr has brought his special brand of melancholy yet shiny, jangly guitar to Modest Mouse and the result is divine, sublime even. Marr is no stranger to adding a bit of lift to dark material, and he does Modest Mouse no disservice. The opening of "Dashboard" is pure Marr, though I won't cheapen the song by likening the riff to The Smiths. "Dashboard" stands on its own. Isaac Brock is no Morrissey and when his vocals kick in, you know you're in for something a little different. My favorite part of the song has no obvious connection to Marr, however. The swoony violin bridge has a kind of silk road thing going on that makes me want to don a backpack and hit the road. Overall, "Dashboard" has an epic quality that makes you feel like you're in a music video when walking down the street listening to your iPod. I feel that way about Pulp's "Disco 2000."

I'm pretty cynical about music after years working at a radio station. I gravitate to quirky, odd, and above all unique gems. I haven't been impressed with the singer-song writer trend that indierock has been on lately. And I really don't like alt country. But it may seem surprising that I'd glom on to what some may consider mainstream. Sure sure the "also bought" list for "Dashboard" on iTunes includes Dave Matthews Band, oh gawd. But I swear, this song is good - one of the best I've heard in a long time.

Click hear to listen to the song. Dreamy.