Which confirms Drank's argument.

I really like the YYY's new one on first few listens. Still wish for more guitar work and not the immense slowdown in the second half. Coincidentally, berliner's track 5 is, I believe, the first track to pull out the geetar.

so yeah, less guitar...but i really like this on first listen. kinda gettin a dear science vibe from it. i can already tell i'll be listening to this a lot.

That was an argument?

Early Modest Mouse sucks beyond belief. It's the typical indie sound of soulless, shallow, whining, collegiate wankery. And the very obners who claim to love that shit are the very proof that my opinion is the correct one.

where is the line that marks "early" modest mouse from the rest?

i think everything from the lonesome crowded west on is pretty great. i like the stuff from before that ok, but it's definitely a bit spotty.

i'm enjoying this album.

That's really funny. I'm not a huge Modest Mouse fan, but Lonesome Crowded West and Moon and Antarctica are stellar. The very early stuff is pretty weak, but they've been on the downturn since M&A to me.[/b]

i didn't really like this album. it's less a yyy's album than a karen o solo album. her voice is the only distinctive thing about this band now.

The hilarious thing about this is that their songwriting has changed almost none. Brock's voice and the band's playing aren't really "better" in any meaningful way. The main difference is more radio-friendly production. If anything, they've stagnated, and Brock's lyrical shtick has just become tired and less inspired. His lyrics aren't any more "mature" than they were on Lonesome Crowded West. He's more or less singing about the same shit. His signature guitar harmonic thing has become more subdued and taken a back seat to more typical rock production. And they had Johnny Marr on one album. That's how they've changed. That's why you don't know what you're talking about.

Agreed.

they will never top Maps.

And when she does that yelpy thing with her voice, although it gives me a boner, it's really fucking annoying.

true, and really a coincidence. it was the first song which was not totally trite and predictably composed. maybe they were so impressed by their own sound they could create with the computer that they forgot to change the chords more often.
maybe they are just not so good in general. I tend to that position but my bandmate is a huge fan of the band. I'm glad he isn't really influenced musically...

this seems to be the case with Rads more often than not.

pretty funny really.

exactly right.

this is pretty lame guys.

Radcliffe is backlashing against the backlash with all the conviction of a virginal pitchfork writer, just so he can remain on the fringe of the Obner popular opinion and keep DumpJack licking his ass.

Anyone with half a dick could tell you this is a sack of festering shit.

And Modest Mouse didn't get good.

They still fucking suck.

Oh come on, Drink. You can't tell me that there's not a different (some would say more refined, some would say better, some would say more commercial) style of songwriting going on between "Neverending Math Equation" and "Float On" or "Dashboard".

What's funny to me is that I'm sure the guy who wrote all these songs would say the same thing: The earliest stuff is amateurish and relies to much on repetition and guitar tricks, the middle period stuff is solid but spotty (and reflects what a fucked up individual he was) and the newer stuff reflects his evolution both as a songwriter and the band being better in general. If you don't personally like it, that's fine, but don't ignore the changes in the bands music.

What do I have to do with this?

No, no, Drinky's right. The band hasn't changed a bit. Not a bit. The only thing different from their first album to their last is the production. Brock hasn't learned anything new nor has he deepened as a human in all that time. In fact, he used to be the perfect being and has since stagnated, rendering his more recent imitations of the MM debut waaaay worse than his earlier imitations of that debut. Yeah, Drinky KNOWS, man.

Thanks for the input, Mick. We're always glad to hear what you kiddies in school like and dislike, because your opinion matters so much in the real world.

Oh shit.

You just played that card.

Aren't you a writer?

So every band gets better over time and none of them stagnate creatively or forgo real development in favor of mere polish? Because, naturally, everyone grows over time and "deepens as human" so of course their art must just get better and better. They never make concessions for commercial success or fall into repeating patterns. Nope.

And pretty much every artist ever has considered their newest work to be their most mature and accomplished, and they look back on their naive youth with some degree of embarrassment. They prefer to look forward rather than back which is, of course, a good thing.

It doesn't mean they're right that their newest work is their best, though.

Drink is winning this.

Careful, your tongue is poised precariously over Drinky's ass, just waiting to dive into the bung.

Well, he would be if Modest Mouse hadn't improved greatly since it's inception. So, there's that.