Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West (1997)

The Lonesome Crowded West is existential, jangly and angry, as any great Modest Mouse album should be, and Isaac Brock's vocals are deeply moving and emotionally raw, typical of the band's early work. As a follow up to the also impressive This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About, it is clearly a step up in quality, particularly in songwriting and production. While the former clearly focused on loneliness and sorrow, with some moments of existential frustration, TLCW hones in on anger as a reaction to the outside world and its maddeningly rapid commercial (and otherwise) “evolution”. Despite the overarching tone of anger and outrage, the record is filled with an impressive array of relentlessly creative metaphors, as the title foretells. The themes of over-industrialization in the band's small town, drug use, alcoholism, existentialism, and religion provide something practically anyone can appreciate and relate to at this stage in history. Lyrics like “I'm tryin' to drink away the part of the day I cannot sleep away” or “he didn't move to the city, the city moved to me, and I want out desperately” are unforgettably impactful beyond the confines of a simple reactionary concept album. Of course what really makes this album exceptional beyond its lyrics and status as an individual concept are its arrangements and uniquely flavorred instrumental performances, coming together to create something that is distinct yet surprisingly timeless. Isaac immediately creates tension and feeling with his unhinged vocal and instrumental performance in “Teeth Like God's Shoeshine” wasting no time in introducing his trademark ferocity, offering one of the album's strongest individual songs. As mentioned, he not only provides impressively gripping vocals, but also contributes piercing and striking guitar workings throughout the record, consistently building on known techniques while developing enough new sounds to keep things fresh. Trademark early Modest Mouse sounds are present from start to finish, Brock's guitar tone manipulation and timely 90s-esque record scratching notwithstanding. Yet there is no single track on the record that is not genuinely emotionally moving, using unforgettable songwriting and jamming energy to match the tone of its concept. The rhythm section, consistent of Green and Judy, stands out from the onset, and form a persistently creative and varied landscape within each song. Tracks like “Doin' the Cockroach”, “Heart Crooks Brain”, “Cowboy Dan” and “Truckers Atlas” propose and produce a thrilling and haunting set of performances, encompassing the album's concept and theme within a smaller set of songs. “Styrofoam Boots/It's All On Ice, Alright” serves as a fittingly frantic closer to a frantic record, further building and eventually capitalizing on preexisting emotional tones. There is an undeniable idiosyncrasy to the mood and atmosphere of The Lonesome Crowded West, and perhaps in the band's sound more broadly, yet its themes are prophetic. This is perhaps the pinnacle of Washington indie rock of the late nineties, coalescing many of the scene's overarching sounds and ideas. Pitchfork's mini-doc on the album serves as a fun tribute and gives insight into the band's physical and musical environment, as well as their songwriting ethos.