Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West (Album Review)

 

Modest Mouse - The Lonesome Crowded West 

(1997)

My copies: 2015 limited reissue on red and green vinyl by Glacial Pace and 2022 limited reissue picture disc by Glacial Pace. 

Only a year after their debut, Modest Mouse followed up with a knockout punch that retained the charismatic aggression of its predecessor while patching up holes in their production style. The Lonesome Crowded West is widely praised for doubling down on themes of corporate expansion and loneliness.

“Teeth Like God’s Shoeshine” unleashes a tangle of distorted guitar that bends every which way over pounding drums and bass. Isaac Brock is back with a fury, delivering verses with the vigor of a mean drunk and choruses with the emotion of a sad drunk. “Heart Cooks Brain” mellows out for a genre-bending take on indie-rock that mixes in a hypnotic guitar melody, atmospheric effects and record scratching. Brock’s anger is refocused into the muted roller coaster of “Convenient Parking” before turning to the tear-jerking ballad of “Baby Blue Sedan,” the latter of which only appears on the vinyl release. 

Their flair for mocking the boot-stomping praise songs of the south returns with the fiddle on “Jesus Christ Was An Only Child” while “Doin’ The Cockroach” is a battle cry for lower class workers that breaks into a fiery dance beat. The lyrics on “Cowboy Dan” build a loathsome character whose anger overflows following a somber bridge. Things get sentimental again on “Trailer Trash” which is the simplest composition, but is elevated by the catchy bass line. Things start to get a bit dicey with “Out Of Gas” and “Long Distance Drunk”  which both feel like they could have been cut, especially considering the running time of 180 minutes. 

“Shit Luck” gets back on track nicely with a voracious frenzy of guitar and energetic yelping before the 10-minute adventure of “Truckers Atlas.” Tonally, Modest Mouse feels as far from kraut-rock as it gets and yet there are echoes (albeit distorted and warped) of Neu! or even CAN in the jamming of “Truckers Atlas.” “Polar Opposites” is a grin-inducing rock single and “Bankrupt On Selling” is another acoustic atheist ballad. “Lounge (Closing Time)” is a sequel to the jazzy track from their debut, here it is given more of an edge before slowly rising up into a powerful crescendo. The album concludes with “Styrofoam Boots/It’s All Nice On Ice, Alright” which begins as a folk song before the drums kick in the bar doors and gradually pick up speed. 

The Lonesome Crowded West speaks to alienation, paranoia, spiritual uncertainty, and hatred for capitalist expansion. It is all tied together by Isaac Brock’s unique brand of storytelling. The music is both drunk and volatile, while also maintaining a capacity for the quiet and gentle. The record is not quite as well produced as their later records, and isn’t as instrumentally expansive, but it is the ultimate snapshot of youthful western American frustration, and it questions nearly every major established authority from religion to commerce. The Lonesome Crowded West is not perfect nor is it close to perfect, but that’s part of the charm.