Modest Mouse: No One's First, And You're Next
Label: Epic
An oddity from an oddity, No One’s First, And You’re Next collects rerecorded out-takes from the past two Modest Mouse albums — and yet is hardly the second-rate release that that might imply. Isaac Brock & Co. (and when the “Co.” includes Johnny Marr, you know the company’s doing some business) step, jump and meander through eight tunes over 33 minutes, never doing the expected yet nevertheless delivering some of the most peculiarly compelling rock songs out there, like a Beefheart born into the alt-rock age. The highlights include “King Rat” (for which the late Heath Ledger directed a soon-to-be-seen animated video) and the weary, clattering “Perpetual Motion Machine,” which features the esteemed Dirty Dozen Brass Band. (M.L. Thrope)
