Day After Day is an ambitious attempt to write about a song every day in 2024 (starting on Jan. 4).
Ocean Breathes Salty (2004)
Believe it or not, there were bands that formed in the Seattle area in the early '90s that weren't trying to sound like Nirvana. Actually, there were a lot of them. One of them was formed by a guy named Isaac Brock, who along with bassist Eric Judy and drummer Jeremiah Green began playing music as Modest Mouse and made clear they were from Issaquah, not Seattle or Olympia, to avoid getting pigeonholed.
The band quickly became known for its quirky guitar pop, punctuated by Brock's shouty vocals. Its second album, 1997's The Lonesome Crowded West, got notice for its range, with raging rock rippers and quiet acoustic meditations. Modest Mouse signed with Epic and made its major-label debut in 2000 with The Moon and Antarctica, another excellent record. I saw them at South by Southwest that year and they put on a great show.
In 2004, Modest Mouse's lineup changed, with Green being replaced by drummer Benjamin Weikel and guitarist Dann Gallucci rejoining the group. The band released Good News for People Who Love Bad News and scored a hit with "Float On," a catchy, anthemic song that didn't sound like the brooding indie mope rock that people were accustomed to from Brock. But I always gravitated towards the second single, "Ocean Breathes Salty," which is about death but presented in an upbeat-sounding package.
"Your body may be gone, I'm gonna carry you in/In my head, in my heart, in my soul/And maybe we'll get lucky and we'll both live again/Well, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, don't think so/Well, that is that and this is this/You tell me what you want and I'll tell you what you get/You get away from me, you get away from me/Collected my belongings and I left the jail/Well, thanks for the time, I think I needed a spell/I had to think a while, I had to think a while."
Comparisons have been made to Talking Heads, but I don't really hear that, other than the general quirkiness of the band and Brock in particular. But I've always felt his lyrics have been pretty strong, even as they delve into some deep territory that can trip a lot of writers up.
"Well, that is that and this is this/Will you tell me what you saw and I'll tell you what you missed/When the ocean met the sky (you missed)/You missed when time and life shook hands and said goodbye (you missed)/When the earth folded in on itself (you missed)/And said, 'Good luck, for your sake I hope heaven and hell (you missed, you missed) are really there/But I wouldn't hold my breath' (you missed, you missed)/You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death? (you missed, you missed)/You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste death?"
The song wasn't as big of a hit as "Float On," but it got to #6 on the Billboard Alternative Airplay chart and #96 on the U.K. Singles chart. The album went to #18 on the Billboard 200, was nominated for a Best Alternative Music Album Grammy and went double platinum.
In 2006, Johnny Marr joined the band for the next album, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, which hit #1 on the Billboard album chart. Marr left after a few years and the band underwent many lineup changes in the years that followed. Only an EP and two albums have been released since 2009, but Modest Mouse is still together, touring with the Pixies this summer to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Good News for People Who Love Bad News.
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