Strangers to Ourselves

I need to listen to this one more, def my least listened to MM album

I think this album is definitely underrated

They obviously care about the environment and it shows throughout the themes in the songs. Although it was released 4 years ago, it feels very current and that's a quality that MM has over a lot of bands: they speak about universal issues or at least are ahead of their time in terms of approaching certain themes. Love it!

I never disliked this album but never gave it the attention it deserved.... wow, so good! I saw them open for Brand New at MSG after this album was released and they definitely stole the show. Blew Brand New the hell out of the water.

Finally got the CD. The sound quality is actually fantastic. It is a great listen.

this shit slaps

Not their greatest but still some wonderful songs here - Ansel, Coyotes, Sugar Boats, Wicked Campaign, and The Ground Walks among them.

I love this album. “Lampshades on Fire,” “The Ground Walks...” and “Tortoise and the Tourist” are among the best songs they’ve made.

This album is really damn good and i don't get why anyone dislikes it

i'm not a long-term modest mouse fan, but for what it's worth - this is a strong LP.

i like all the songs but it doesn't feel like, cohesive? idk

It isn't bad, but the sound seems so uncharacteristic in comparison to previous works. That signature sound is so far in the background now.

I really don't understand the negativity surrounding this album. I thought it was pretty fucking good.

lol and Pistol is the most interesting song on the record for me i mean obviously. it's kinda rad

For the people getting cranky over Pistol, Isaac spoke some words on it in a German interview, just gonna translate it cause I don't know if he spoke about it in others. "[Pistol] is probably the only song on the record, which we just had loads of fun fucking around with, writing a song about a really dumb jerk. I really like the sound of it and we just had a good time writing it. The people out there like this song the least. Also, half of the band asked me not to put the song on the record. I knew that pistol would go on people's nerves and that's why I had to do it. The fact that most anyone hates the song is a reason for me to like it. It doesn't have the sound you'd expect on this record and that's why it's on it." http://www.intro.de/popmusik/das-internet-ist-ein-verdammt-gemeiner-ort-isaac-brock-von-modest-mouse-im-gesprach

I didn't expect much from the album tbh and I thought I was through with it after some plays but I find myself coming back to it and having those lines stuck in my mind again.. Especially the more quiet songs. So that's good

This album has grown on me immensely, with only a few listens here and there. Can honestly listen to it all the way through and not skip a song right now. And Pistol is a jam, you people are crazy.

God awful.

i dig a lot of the keyboard stuff going on in this album

ill pass

i don't think it's a bad album, but it does bore me, quite a bit.

sounds fashionably like katy perry

Good album but it would be better without Pistol

Amazing album, fak off haters

I made it half way through and had to pull the plug.

Naotas speaks the most sense in this whole shoutbox. Pistol is a character song - it's meant to sound the way it does - I really don't understand the hate either, when it's cranked up loud I think it's great. As a whole, the album is nowhere near their best, but being a MM fan I'm just happy for new material and I'm sure over time I will appreciate it even more for what it is in their catalogue.

*in your cut

shit

@DJtKK is right on the money. this album is not the best, but still pretty damn good, especially after a few listens. haters, clean my pistol!

Ansel <3

Modest Mouse finally returns from hiatus. Was it worth the wait? Read about Strangers to Ourselves http://wp.me/p2Xmrq-TW via @wordpressdotcom

Okay whatever, Pistol sucks because it didn't make you didn't laugh and phallic symbols embarrass you blah blah blah opinions. I'm tired of defending this song.

MM have always made silly parody songs (shit luck, devil's workday etc) but at least those songs had musical merit, and while silly, you could still get into them. 'Pistol" is just some bizarre collection of ramblings about phallic symbols that actually made me embarrassed for Isaac. Like someone said, it sounds like a Kesha song

"It sounds like the mind of an extremely drunk dipshit asshole, but it's SUPPOSED to. " i know it's a parody song but it's so bad it doesn't even make me laugh

This feels fake and artificial, they just tried too much. Whoever produced it is a 15 years old adding every effect he sees, thinking it will sound better. Even Isaac sounds boring. God is an Indian is propably the only song which feels like old modest mouse, and it only lasts one minute.

What the hell is people's problem with Pistol? The drama around it is bizarre. It's purposefully weird and ugly sounding, yeah. It sounds like the mind of an extremely drunk dipshit asshole, but it's SUPPOSED to. That's the point.

I love the entire album with the exception of Pistol. What the hell is with that song?

rating 7/10

pistol is the worst song of all time. seriously.

The Golden Casket vol 1

Not a bad album, not a good album. But holy fuck, Pistols is a bad track.

Certainly overproduced, but there's a lot to love on this album. If MM didn't lose you already with their last one being very pop-oriented, this new sound isn't too hard of a stylistic change to swallow, and I think it's actually better in many respects. I'm digging how their are actually more guitar-focused songs and it's less happy-sounding overall. Lyrically, Isaac also seems to be moving away from the personal almost completely and focusing more on the absurdity of the outside world/other people, which is pretty cool new territory when you take the time to decipher his point of view. Overall, the songs here may not all grab you as much as on past albums but it definitely grows on you and I'd say there's enough good, interesting content to dwell on and enjoy that it was definitely worth the wait. I will be enjoying this for some time to come and with all this experimentation I'm actually much more interested in their direction now than ever before. I'd give it a damn solid B!!!

If MM are the Pacific NW indie-rock forefathers, Calvin Johnson is the granddaddy, and he needs to step in and smack some sense into these whippersnappers.

v @aaronleclair: agreed. For sure.

These songs could be interesting but the generic pop-radio production, all drum triggers and quantization, saps any and all life and dynamics out of them. Not to mention that so many (often disparate and conflicting) sounds are being crammed in such a small space. Some bands' songs (Broken Social Scene) make exciting music with this super-dense approach but what was so visceral about Modest Mouse in all their previous albums was how bare and personal the songs could get Go listen to the early Modest Mouse singles/LPs and just listen to all that negative space -- it's all gone here. The release as a whole has the kind of confusion & uncertainty I'd expect from a band that formed last year, under pressure to make their first album on a major label -- NOT from Pacific NW indie-rock forefathers who released their last album EIGHT years ago.

Here's a review that's in English if that is your preferred language. http://staticdistance.com/2015/03/11/review-modest-mouse-strangers-to-ourselves/

Heavy Pop Review: http://www.heavypop.at/modest-mouse-strangers-to-ourselves/

Upon first listen, I find that this may be a little over-produced (or under-produced depending on outlook), and more to the point: boring. This did not grab my attention at all. Everything sounded much the same, it came and went - but never stayed. I find this to be a weak effort for a band which has been known to show a certain dynamic even in their safe, pop-appeal efforts. Where is the tension in Brock's voice? Where is the finger-picking, electric melodies; the descent into noise?- the bittersweet sentiment of Blame it on the Tetons, Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset, or Little Motel? All the things I look for in Modest Mouse seems to be missing. For the record, Modest Mouse is one of my favourite bands and has formed part of the core of my taste since I've had a music library. Ultimately my first impression lies in disappointment, but, perhaps further listens, and an official release, may just bring something out which I subconsciously skimmed over at first. Here's hoping..

IMO a very confused and overdone effort. Most of the instrumentation is so dense in the wrong kinds of ways, it kills the band-feel. Most of the melodies aren't very interesting either. I really want to like it but I'm not feeling it...

I don't know about the quality or source of the leak you guys are listening to, but I'd suggest in general it's best practice to wait for the official release before critiquing the production :) You've got me worried though...