On their previous album
Strangers to Ourselves,
Modest Mouse catalogued environmental and societal woes with dark, insular songs. Arriving six years later -- a relatively brief gap compared to the eight years that separated
Strangers and
We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank --
The Golden Casket finds the band stepping into the light and out of their comfort zone. Working with co-producers
Jacknife Lee and
Dave Sardy,
Isaac Brock,
Jeremiah Green, and company give their seventh album a sheen that's slick, but not bland. If anything,
The Golden Casket sounds more adventurous than the band has been in some time. Where
Strangers to Ourselves covered well-worn territory, this time
Modest Mouse run riot through a variety of styles while maintaining the anthemic scope they've had since "Float On." With its chilly synths and mechanical beats, "We Are Between" recalls
LCD Soundsystem; the bubbly psych-pop of "The Sun Hasn't Left" evokes
the Flaming Lips' skill at making children's music for adults; and there's more than a hint of
Talking Heads' surreal storytelling to "Leave a Light On"'s slow-motion motorik. Indeed,
Modest Mouse save what might be their most quintessential-sounding song for last: Minus its shuffling beats and breakdowns, "Back to the Middle" could've appeared on
The Lonesome Crowded West or The Moon and Antarctica, and its triumphant guitar solos make it one of the album's brightest highlights.
Brock's wild-eyed and philosophical sides get equal time over the course of
The Golden Casket, with the tempestuous "Walking and Running" capturing the former and "Transmitting/Receiving" -- a trippy mantra with the spookiness of a numbers station broadcast -- repping the latter. Holding all of these strands together is a newfound feeling of gratitude. On songs as different as the brassy ballad "We're Lucky" and the majestically ramshackle "Wooden Soldiers,"
Brock states that just being in the moment is enough for him. What makes this positivity feel authentic is the way the band balances sunshine and shadow. Even on the album's sweetest track, "Lace Up Your Shoes,"
Brock can't turn a blind eye to the bad things in the world as he sings to his young daughter: "I hate that this'll happen/But I know that it'll happen/Someone's going to be cruel." It's one of several genuinely affecting moments on
The Golden Casket that finds the perfect balance between optimism and realism -- and makes it
Modest Mouse's finest work since
Good News for People Who Love Bad News. ~ Heather Phares