Modest Mouse, "Coyotes"

Yesterday, Modest Mouse released a second song from their upcoming album Strangers to Ourselves, titled "Coyotes". For those who don't know the whole story about Modest Mouse, I strongly suggest that you go back and listen to their earlier material. Their first three records contain an eclectic mix of overly emotional, scrappy, indie rock (my personal favorite being their third record, the psychedelic Moon and Antarctica). These songs from the late 90's and early 2000's strike a chord with me both lyrically and musically more than most other music out there. When they broke into the mainstream in 2004 with "Float On", which is how many fans including myself discovered them, their style shifted dramatically. While I do enjoy a good number of post-2004 Modest Mouse songs (they were the first ones I discovered, after all), the angst, emotional depth, sheer beauty, and instrumental experimentation that made up their earlier work is blatantly missing from most of these songs. Only two or three of these "newer" Mouse songs are truly on par with the quality of their "older" songs in my humble opinion. Fast forward to 2015, and Modest Mouse has not released a new record in 8 years for unknown reasons. But with the recent announcement of Strangers to Ourselves, Modest Mouse have been coming back into style with their popular new single "Lampshades on Fire". I was a bit disappointed with "Lampshades", although I was honestly not expecting much because I was not impressed with their last record. The funky, dance-rock of "Lampshades" is enjoyable, but sounds very similar to most other songs on their last two records, and nothing like the older material that I've come to love. "Coyotes", however, is a different story. I haven't been this moved by a Modest Mouse song in a very long time. Isaac Brock's lyrics might not be as clever as usual, but he more than makes up for that by using superb imagery against a reverb-heavy wall of guitars that reminds me of my favorite tracks from The Moon and Antarctica. The song's overall soft nature and gentle vocal-line is also a nice change of pace from the majority of tracks on their last record, which featured many frantic songs with 'shouty' vocals. Try not to be heartbroken when you listen to Isaac sadly repeat "and we say we're in love with all of it / and we say we're in love with everything" at the end of the song. It's not a fun song like "Float On" or "Lampshades", but it is overflowing with emotion like the Modest Mouse I love. After hearing this track, I can now truthfully say that I'm excited for the new album.


Click here to watch the "Coyotes" music video and hear the song!