Isaac Brock has always displayed the soul of a country outlaw, even as he led his band Modest Mouse through several albums of sweeping, dramatic indie rock. Over the past few years, Brock has increasingly embraced his hillbilly side, recording a semi-rootsy album as Ugly Casanova and inviting the Hackensaw Boys onstage during a national tour.
Modest Mouse recorded Good News For People Who Love Bad News, their second major-label album, in Oxford, Mississippi, with producer Dennis Herring (Counting Crows, Sparklehorse) — a departure from the group’s previous work with Phil Ek and Califone’s Brian Deck. Not that they’ve abandoned the chiming, bent electric guitar notes or punctuating shrieks that are they band’s signature sounds; instead, Good News innovatively introduces unusual instrumentation into the mix.
The album opens with a ten-second horn blast courtesy of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, then runs through a typical selection of Modest Mouse grooves, rants and occasional bursts of melody, including the soaring first single, “Float On”.
Halfway through the disc, Brock shakes off any adherence to rock-slash-punk tradition and embarks on a suite that’s nothing short of stunning. It begins with a waltzy lament to the perpetually doomed American author Charles Bukowski, then yields to a swampy banjo and horn number (“The Devil’s Work Day”) with Hackensaw Boy Tom Peloso moving front and center. A few songs later, Brock sings sadly over acoustic guitar in the plaintive “Blame It On The Tetons”, which closes the suite.
A couple of punk-informed songs follow before Modest Mouse closes the disc jamboree-style with “The Good Times Are Killing Me”, a fitting end to a long, satisfying journey.
