Modest Mouse

Modest Mouse, American alternative rock group known for musical idiosyncrasy and darkly comical lyrics. The original members were Isaac Brock (b. July 9, 1975, Issaquah, Washington, U.S.), Eric Judy (b. 1974), and Jeremiah Green (b. March 4, 1977—d. December 31, 2022).

Modest Mouse was the brainchild of singer, songwriter, and guitarist Brock, whose austere upbringing brought a pronounced fatalism to his lyrics. With bassist Judy and drummer Green, Brock founded Modest Mouse in 1993, the trio rehearsing in a shed near Brock’s mother’s Washington home. The group released its debut album, This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About, in 1996 on independent label Up Records. The Lonesome Crowded West (1997) earned the attention of major labels, and the band signed with Sony/Epic, releasing The Moon & Antarctica in 2000. The latter album—a sprawling, multilayered work that explored existential subjects such as death, the afterlife, and man’s place in the universe—is considered by many critics to be the band’s artistic peak.

The band’s early work was characterized by swings between slow country-inflected moments and jerky punk rock (often within the same song), with Brock’s bleating, often abrasive vocals serving as a common thread. Later albums saw increasing musical experimentation and a broader instrumental palette. Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004) adopted more concise song structures and radio-friendly production but was also the group’s most eclectic record to date, featuring accents of psychedelia, jazz, and even dance music. It also proved a commercial breakthrough, selling more than one million copies on the strength of the backhandedly optimistic hit “Float On.” The band’s follow-up We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007) debuted at the top of Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart. After a prolonged hiatus, Modest Mouse released Strangers to Ourselves in 2015. The Golden Casket, their seventh album, appeared in 2021.

The core membership remained generally consistent, although Green briefly left the band in 2003 and 2004. Over time the group brought in additional musicians, including former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr for several years. Brock, who had once worked as an artists-and-repertoire (A&R) agent for Seattle label Sub Pop Records, founded his own label in 2005, and he devoted much of his energy to signing and promoting emerging artists.