At the turn of the millennium, major record labels began to realize they could capitalize on the popularity of the independent music scene by marketing music with an "indie" tag, the same way they did with the "alternative" and "garage" genres half a decade earlier. Corporate labels such as Interscope and Capitol began enlisting acts such as The Strokes and Phantom Planet into their ranks at this time in order to profit from their independent images.
Issaquah, Wash.'s Modest Mouse, too, is an indie band turned protectorate of a major label. A genuinely independent band through their first three LPs, which were released by the Up and K record labels, Modest Mouse was courted by Epic Records in 2000.
Although the band was already on the Sony subsidiary when it released "The Moon & Antarctica" (2000), its most critically acclaimed and most highly regarded album, it was the release of and the band's unprecedented commercial success with the subsequent and comparatively tame "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" (2004) that incited many staunch Modest Mouse fans to decry the band's unfaithfulness to its independent roots.
Although Modest Mouse has apparently attempted to regain their credibility on their latest release, "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank," by reincorporating original member Jeremiah Green on drums and, notably, ex-Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr for both songwriting and playing purposes, their music is considerably less adventurous and more polished than their pre-"Good News" material, and even "Good News" itself.
The album manages to begin on a high note, with the dynamic "Marched Into the Sea," whose string section and accordion lines combined with lead vocalist/guitarist Isaac Brock's gruff, squawking voice serve as a perfect example of the quirkiness that has made Modest Mouse so interesting to listen to in the past.
By contrast, "Dashboard," the album's first single, comes right after. It is extremely catchy, danceable and perhaps predestined for rotation on radio stations. Although this description may appear a compliment, singles are usually meant to be accessible, not creative and potentially alienating for less serious fans. Accordingly, Brock's voice is much more reserved than on the first track and the composition more poppy. The music is somewhat engaging, but its most distinguishing feature, the horn and string lines that saturate the song, are banal.
The song illustrates the major issue with "We Were Dead" - a sound that is ineffectual because of Modest Mouse's artistic shyness. A once unpredictable band, Modest Mouse has succumbed to formula more so on this record than ever before.
"We've Got Everything" essentially sounds the same as "The View" off "Good News," except in a major key and with The Shins' James Mercer on back-up vocals. Mercer appears twice more on "We Were Dead" in the same role in "Florida" and "Missed the Boat." While "Florida" is an earnest display of Modest Mouse's versatility in both vocalism and instrumentation, the other two songs are tepid at best.
The album's lyrics are likewise bland. Modest Mouse's diction, once both witty and self-conscious, seems to have lost efficacy as Brock has resorted to unmoving metaphors such as "It honestly was beautifully bold/ like trying to save an ice cube from the cold" in "Fire It Up," and "I'll be beating my heart's record for speeding/ I'll be beating the record for hearts skipping in the dark" in "March Into the Sea."
The songs on the rest of the album are more or less an even split between filler and quality. While the dark introspection of "Parting of the Sensory," the complex minimalism of "Fly Trapped in a Jar," and the instrumental interplay of "Education" demonstrate that Modest Mouse has retained its proven, unconventional sound, these songs are equalized by less inventive tunes.
An atypical form for Modest Mouse, the rock ballad "Little Motel," is rather boring. Only when Brock shifts his otherwise soft and unsuited vocals to a yell towards the end of the song does it seem pertinent to the album.
"Steam Engenius" and "Invisible" are similarly monotonous. The latter, the album's clincher, is only engaging during its bridge, which, as a bridge, is regrettably only a fraction of the song.
By all means, "We Were Dead" is not a bad album, but given the means with which Modest Mouse had to work - specifically the addition of Marr, a prolific songwriter - it is an unexpected regression from the band's originality.
"We Were Dead" is not for the devotees of the "Lonesome Crowded West" or "Moon & Antarctica" art rock-era Modest Mouse, but rather for the dilettantes who've only been exposed to "Good News."
