ALBUM: Good news for people who like old stuff

Sorry it's been a few days since posting - the semester's been wrapping up and things are just kinda crazy. You know how it is.

Modest Mouse is a funny band for me. I was introduced to them in eighth grade by a good friend of mine who let me borrow This is a long drive for someone with nothing to think about, and I liked it just okay. How un-indie of me, right? Since then, I've seen them perform twice, but only accidentally - the first time because Mason Jennings was opening for them, and the second because Rilo Kiley was. Both times, however, Isaac Brock & co. were pretty stinking fun, putting on a very loud, very noisy, and at times, a very moving show.

So this post is basically a shout out to the band that I will once again be seeing accidentally. This time it will be at the Sasquatch Music Festival in May with The National, Beirut, the Grand Archives etc. So I just recently pulled out 2004's Good News for People Who Love Bad News, and I've been reminded again of just how much I love that album. In 2004 I returned to college life after two years of not listening to any music at all (unless you count contemporary LDS pop as music - which I don't), and it was on a road-trip that a friend of mine decided to re-introduce me to the world of indie music with this album and Postal Service's Give Up. Both of which now hold a special place in my heart. From the echo-y opening notes of The World at Large to the indie-poppiness of Float On to the weirdness of Satin in a Coffin to the achingly sincere and very pretty Blame it on the Tetons, this is still just a really great record.

Modest Mouse - One Chance

from the album Good News for People Who Love Bad News (Amazon/iTunes)

And here's just a really great cover. By just a really great guy.

Josh Ritter - Blame it on the Tetons (Modest Mouse cover)

from the Girl in the War EP (iTunes)