Baltimoregal's tumblr

Modest Mouse - Missed the Boat

I have to admit that until now I sort of wrote off We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank as a decent but forgettable Modest Mouse album, but for the life of me I’m not sure why. Maybe I thought the addition of Johnny Marr—who admittedly kicked ass in The Smiths—would overwhelm MM’s sound, or the pseudo-nautical theme that is a reoccurring, and equally disappearing, thread throughout the album, or maybe it was just that MM is evolving into a band very different than their LCW-era days. And maybe none of those reasons had anything to do with it. In fact, there’s a pretty good chance I hadn’t even heard the full album until yesterday.

We Were Dead is a very, very good album that doesn’t live up to the relatively unbeatable standard set by their previous output. It’s hard to overlook this fact but I also feel it’s unfair to judge the album purely on that basis. As I was listening to the album, I was surprised how much I enjoyed songs that I previously had written off and how many songs that seemed to be completely new to me. The album certainly has its dips (“Florida,” “Fly Trapped in a Jar,” “Steam Engenius”), but it also has some highlights that showcase everything that’s great about MM, like “Dashboard,” “Fire It Up,” “Parting of the Sensory,” “Little Motel,” and finally “Missed the Boat” (on a semi-unrelated note: MM is one of the few bands who consistently picks great single cuts). Despite the new additions in the studio and the most “indie” (in the mid-00s sense of the term) sounding album to date, We Were Dead is pure MM in the sense that I can’t conceive of any other band making this album. We Were Dead was released in 2007 and it’s an album that—I don’t know how else to say this—MM gets to make. If they’re making material this consistent fifteen years into their career, God speed little doodle (I had to throw a Simpsons reference in here somewhere eventually.)

“Missed the Boat” concerns finding joy and happiness in an unplanned life and is another in a line of MM songs that seem to speak directly to the fears and insecurities of directionless youth. People who are naturally “looking towards the future” but are “begging for the past”; people who got “caught looking at somebody’s else page”; people who “listened more to life’s end gong/Than the sound of life’s sweet bells.” “Missed the Boat” doesn’t wallow in its own shit; it admits that even those good times “never seemed to last,” they still happened and they carried those bad times “all so well.” Brock even asks “Was it ever worth it?” before transitioning to the poignant image of people dancing at their own wake.

“Missed the Boat” shines in part because of James Mercer’s background vocals especially present in the chorus, which does sound like a Shins chorus circa-Chutes Too Narrow. He brings a rousing quality to the message communicated and nicely parallels with Brock’s voice and is a testament to MM’s ability to look forward instead of perpetually treading the well-worn material of their past (despite the part of myself that desperately wants them to do that, you know, for old time’s sake).

Just don’t forget about me, okay? I would never.

us: ah

the last of us on hbo: and now for your third episode. the gut wrenching love story between two men who found each other at the end of the world and became so entangled in one another that when time finally wore them away, they left together. also on the nature of daylight plays over their last day together

us:

Good catch! Shape of the Water doesnt use modern day American sign language, but this was intentional. There were two ASL coaches who taught Sally Hawkins (the main actress) how to sign using period appropriate ASL to match the time period depicted in the film.

I repeated the experiment later, wearing the boots but otherwise my usual clothing and mimicking the expression I thought I’d had at that moment. People parted like I was Charlton Heston.

I now wear that style of boots whenever possible. I recently had a man do a double-take as I walked by and ask me, politely, where I had served because I “looked like a soldier.” I’m not current or former military. I was wearing a flowy purple peasant top and looked as un-soldierlike as possible.

Wheel like you’re gonna win the Indy 500 and don’t care how.

Your crutches are short swords; walk like you can see them buried in the bodies of anyone who crosses (in front of) you.