#14. Modest Mouse - The Moon & Antarctica

While nobody can quite decide how they feel about Modest Mouse anymore, one thing we can mostly all agree on is the brilliance of The Moon & Antarctica.  So, while it’s a joy to listen to, talking about it is pretty boring.  Complex themes, intricate melodies, yadda yadda.  Let’s talk about the band instead, those dudes are crazy.

Modest Mouse got their start at the Evergreen Woodland Home For Fairie Folk (And Unicorns) in Northern Washington, under the tutelage of the Woodland King Calvin Johnson himself, and spent many years as one of America’s premiere ‘indie’ bands.  Alas, chronic gambling on unicorn-races and the resulting massive debt caused the band to flee to Epic Records (wholly owned subsidiary of the Devil).  All was forgiven, however, when they emerged from the studio with their masterpiece.

Then they let some car company use a song from the aforementioned masterpiece to sell minivans to Gen-X soccer moms, and everyone hated them again.

Then they released another album, got nominated for Grammys, and were generally inescapable for a while, further irritating some, but gaining many new fans.

Then they rescued Johnny Marr from The Morrissey’s sex-dungeon and asked him to be in their band, and now nobody knows what to think of them. (songsthataregood)

Don’t forget about the alleged rape and brutal coverup snowjob part of the band’s history!