Good News For People Who Love Bad News - Modest Mouse > Reviews > Eclectic mix of lush pop and mad rock.

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	A couple of weak links
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Well written, beautiful and quite mad .
Disadvantages:	A bit too long, Isaac's voice is an acquired taste .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Whilst Modest Mouse's previous albums, including the hugely praised The Moon And Antarctica, have just passed me by, the huge hype surrounding Good News was enough to make me check out a song prior to release, and I'm very glad I did. The record quite wonderfully mixes beautiful indie pop with twisted, scathing and slightly funky nonsensical songs, and sounds one of a kind from it.

On the beautiful side we have 'The World At Large' and 'Float On', the two beautiful album openers (although whoever had the idea to put these next to each other on the tracklist should be shot: both songs have the same melody), the more rocky but equally touching 'Ocean Breathes Salty' and acoustic numbers such as 'Blame It On The Tetons'. On the opposite side, we had the Captain Beefheart impression of 'The Devil's Workday', complete with Isaac Brock's vocals more twisted than ever and out of tune brass band, the lyrically and musically scathing 'Bukowski' and 'Satin In A Coffin' (Are you dead or are you sleepin'? Are you dead or are you sleepin'? Boy I sure hope you are dead) and the downright madness of 'Dance Hall'.

The album is not without fault, however, and the odd song seems like pure filler. 'Bury Me With It', 'The View' and 'One More Chance' make no impact on first or repeat listens, and only work to make the album drag a little over its course of sixteen songs. Nonetheless it's a touching and enjoyable record, and well recommended to any fans of American indie music.