Album Review: Modest Mouse - ‘An Eraser and a Maze’

Modest Mouse has never shied away from eccentricity. The sentiment still rings true on their first album in five years ‘An Eraser and a Maze’.  

The band leans comfortably into its signature blend of wiry indie rock and existential unease, weaving jagged guitar lines with frontman Isaac Brock’s half spoken, half fractured vocals.

Indie bands that have made it big have reverted back to releasing on indie labels, and Modest Mouse is no exception to that, releasing on frontman Brock’s own Glacial Pace Records. A move that feels like creative reclamation. Free from the lines and expectations that often come with major label backing.

Listening to the albums first track, Picking Dragons Pockets, one is immediately reminded of albums past, specifically ‘Good News for People who love bad news’ and ‘We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank’. The track leans into the band's knack for controlled chaos, where melodies seem to unravel just as quickly as they take shape.

“Thoughts, emotions, feelings, all that stuff…you’re like the soup, and its not always easy to pick out the ingredients. I don’t dwell on things much. I don’t grieve much. Im not sure im a person. I feel like I should have more feelings than I do. But then, you know, ill sing and stuff. And im like, Oh, there it is. Oh-it’s in there’-* Brock has admitted, although he’s never been particularly fond of overexplaining his work.

Eraser and a Maze is Idiosyncratic, Unorthodox, and erratic in the best way. Their most compelling and fully realized album in years. It doesn’t chase reinvention. It reminds listeners that the bands particular charm has only shifted shape.

Brock’s voice hasn’t lost any of its edge, its gained momentum. And just in time for a huge summer/fall tour to accompany the release of An Eraser and a Maze- out today for your listening pleasure.

Songs of Note - Picking Dragons Pockets/Speak ‘N Spell (Or Not)/Look How Far..

Rating - 3.5/5