3 out of 5

Label: Epic

Produced by: Dave Sardy, Jacknife Lee, Andrew Weiss

I was glad to read a Pitchfork review of the reissues of Modest Mouse’s Long Drive and Lonesome Crowded West saying something I felt but hadn’t yet come across in takes on their Epic-era releases: that Good News For People Who Like Bad News felt like the last “real” Modest Mouse album. Themes of isolation and paranoia have remained; and the core crew of Isaac Brock, Jeremiah Green, and Eric Judy have been here and there in different capacities along the way; and Brock’s lisped screech and bendy guitars are always part of the equation; but nonetheless: post-Good News – arguably as part of the release of Good News – things changed.

The Moon & Antarctica, the group’s first major label album, had anted up their sound beyond the confines of indie rock; Good News was emerging into adulthood, which ironically meant, for Brock, swallowing the tragedies that were then surrounding him and putting on a smile. Not that the album didn’t kick around with those above-mentioned themes, but it did so with a face more willing to be seen in public.

Thereafter… it’s been hard for me to piece a narrative around the band. Without prattling on for too much longer, though, I really do feel that it just became a different thing. And I’m sensitive to how bands / artists present themselves in those contexts: it’s different enough that I would’ve preferred the band re-branded.

I took some beats to listen to and digest the following albums, trying to take them on their own terms. When Brock (and the now-standard bevy of collaborators) paired up with producer Dave Sardy for The Golden Casket, I knew I needed to take some additional beats, because I love Sardy. My ears would need to work through a couple of layers: my flagged passion for what was once my favorite band, and an enduring appreciation for Dave’s production work, trying to set aside a prediction / bias that he didn’t tend to manage “cluttered” groups very well, and the Epic-era Modest Mouse define that sound.

Those beats / years have passed. The Golden Casket is good; it feels like the most focused and confident Brock and the band have been since Good News, and navigates the often too-obvious gap between singles and the remaining content well – the former interestingly handled by a different producer: Jacknife Lee.

But: that confidence is thanks to Brock officially shifting past those first big stages of adulthood, past a big relationship. He’s got a couple kids. Social media annoys him. ‘The Golden Casket’ is the name of a UK lottery brand, which feels kind of fitting, but I think the image-pairing of final respite and fortune works as well: Brock’s settling in for the long run of old age. So while there are quite a few “fucks” in song titles, and the album overall has a good, moving energy, it’s also… quite tame. It doesn’t have the fitful need-to-prove-itself of the last couple records. That amounts to a totality of less cringey lyrics (Brock likes to reach for too-clever juxtapositions sometimes), while also meaning I don’t take much away from his words except those always-present themes, pared down to more casual observation than ranting. Even when he’s rattling off conspiracy theories, it’s neither impassioned or snarky, it’s just a lyric, written to match a quirky beat.

As to those beats, there’s quite a bit of ‘why?’ on here. Thankfully, I do feel the touch of Sardy in getting Brock to chill on the excessive layering, and streamlining melodies down to beats that still capture a bit of the ol’ Modest Mouse (or moreso Ugly Cassanova) weirdness, but at the same time, I kept questioning the need for all of the excess sounds tossed onto tracks. It’s not like I need a statement justifying every choice, more that I couldn’t figure out how those sounds enhanced anything – how they added to the themes, or provide any textural layers that added to the songs vibes in any way. This, too, felt a bit like settling: final track Back To The Middle is one of my favorites on the album, and it’s the most stripped down of the bunch, and kind of closest to just being a traditional “song,” which ironically made it feel like the most Modest Mouse-y of the set – it’s accessible without any affects. Sticking it at the end is interesting; the “settling” feels like Brock’s slow acceptance of writing songs like Back To the Middle which are comparatively normal, and to get there, he has to soothe his pathological need to quirk things up with (checks notes) finger snaps, bamblong, mini korg, vibraslap, and so on.

‘The Golden Casket’ still isn’t Modest Mouse to me. But, in graciously allowing groups to change without my demand that they also change their name, it’s the first post-MM album that doesn’t suffer from being in a constant state of transition. The final product may not be revolutionary in a world with plenty of other weirdo twee bands, and especially not in comparison to classic Mouse, however, I enjoyed it without as much wheedling as I was expecting; turns out I subjected you – and myself – to a lot of preamble when it may not have been necessary!