The band's current configuration is Isaac Brock (vocals, guitar), Tom Peloso (strings, horns, bass, keyboards), Jim Fairchild (guitar), and Eric Judy (bass)). Plummer has recently become the new drummer for The Shins.
Brock came up with the name "Modest Mouse" when he read the Virginia Woolf stream of consciousness essay The Mark On the Wall in which the author described the working middle class as "modest mouse-coloured people"
Brock frequently moved around with his mother when he was a child. Around this time, his mother left his father for his father's brother (Brock's uncle). Brock's mother's house flooded and forced them to move into his mother's new husband's trailer, but there was no room for Brock. Brock stayed behind, living in the second story of the flooded house, until he was eventually evicted by police. He then moved into a shed next to his mother's house and it is said this is where Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and bassist Eric Judy first began playing music.
In 1994, the band recorded their debut EP, Blue Cadet-3, Do You Connect?, at Calvin Johnson's Dub Narcotic Studios, which was then released on Calvin's record label K Records. Then followed a single with Sub Pop that was recorded by producer Steve Wold at Moon Studios. Wold, who in the mid-2000's would begin to perform under the name Seasick Steve, would also perform on the band's albums, but was never an official member of the band. After moving to Up Records Modest Mouse put out several releases recorded at Moon Studios, including 1996's This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About. This double LP was produced and recorded by Steve Wold. The next offering on UP was Interstate 8; also produced by Steve Wold. 1997's The Lonesome Crowded West, (also recorded at Moon Studios, by Scott Swayze) turned out to be the band's breakthrough album. The Lonesome Crowded West gained the band a cult following and is now widely considered by many critics to be one of the defining albums of mid-90s indie rock.
In 2000, Modest Mouse released The Moon And Antarctica, their first album on a major label (Epic Records). The band enjoyed some success on alternative radio with the singles "3rd Planet" and "Gravity Rides Everything." Lead singer Isaac Brock has since put out an album with his side project Ugly Casanova on Sub Pop Records.
In 2003, drummer Jeremiah Green quit the band; the official word was that he was quitting to work with his side project, Vells. He was replaced with two members, drummer Benjamin Weikel (who also drummed for The Helio Sequence) and guitarist Dann Gallucci (Murder City Devils). Weikel being new to the band and Gallucci returning to the band for the first time since This is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About. On April 6, 2004, Modest Mouse released the platinum-selling Good News For People Who Love Bad News, which scored two hits with "Float On" and "Ocean Breathes Salty". In 2004 Jeremiah Green returned to the band, and Benjamin Weikel now drums exclusively for The Helio Sequence. Dann Gallucci left the band in August, and they toured with Hutch Harris of The Thermals during the fall of 2004.
Modest Mouse was mentioned by name in the 2005 Supreme Court decision in the case of MGM v. Grokster. Justice Souter wrote that on the Grokster P2P network, "Users seeking Top 40 songs, for example, or the latest release by Modest Mouse, are certain to be far more numerous than those seeking a free Decameron, and Grokster and StreamCast translated that demand into dollars."
In 2005, multi-instrumentalist Tom Peloso, who already played various instruments on Good News For People Who Love Bad News, officially joined the band. In 2006, Johnny Marr, former guitarist for The Smiths, became an official member of the band.
On March 20, 2007, the band released their fifth album, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank. Four singles were released from the album: "Dashboard", "Missed the Boat", "We've Got Everything" and "Little Motel". The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 album chart. James Mercer of The Shins provides backing vocals on three songs.
In 2009, they released No One's First And You're Next, an EP of unreleased songs from around the time Good News and We Were Dead were recorded, and two songs that had already been released, "I've Got It All (Most)" and "King Rat". The video for King Rat was directed by late actor Heath Ledger.
In 2009, Johnny Marr left the band and was replaced by Jim Fairchild, formerly of Grandaddy. The band performed at several festivals throughout 2009 and 2010, including the main stage of the Reading and Leeds Festivals in 2010.
After an 8 year wait, the band's latest full-length is "Strangers To Ourselves", released March 17th, 2015- two weeks after the original release date, March 3rd, 2015. The album art is an aerial photo of an RV resort located in Mesa, Arizona. Five singles were released before the album, "Lampshades on Fire", "Coyotes", "The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box", "The Best Room", and "Of Course we Know".
Drummer Jeremiah Green passed away from cancer on December 31, 2022 at the age of 45.
Sunspots In the House of the Late Scapegoat
Modest Mouse Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It was all on the same postcard
It was all on the same damn shirt
Said to sleep in the same Sear's camp house
It was all in the great state parks
It was all on the same Greyhound
It was all so many miles
Twenty miles down the islands
The biggest mall on Earth
It was all in the same rest stop
It was wall on the same damn shirt
It was all on the same Greyhound
Sunspots
In the house of the late scapegoat
Be aware the paint's still peeling
All muscle cars made of lead
I got myself a fine fine fine fine friend
It was all in the next gray ghost
It was all in the same damn place
The parts to pound attractive
Your feeling you owe on your size is bleeding
Sunspots
This song, "Sunspots In the House of the Late Scapegoat" by Modest Mouse, seems to be a reflection on the cyclical nature of life as well as being trapped by one's own routines and patterns. The repetition of phrases such as "It was all on the same postcard," "It was all on the same damn shirt," and "It was all on the same Greyhound" create a sense of being stuck in a loop, unable to escape from familiarity. The lyrics also suggest a sense of decay and deterioration, with lines like "Be aware the paint's still peeling" and "Your feeling you owe on your size is bleeding." The theme of decay is furthered in the reference to "the dirty brown dirt" and "the late scapegoat," suggesting a death or ending of some kind.
The chorus of the song, "Sunspots in the house of the late scapegoat," adds a layer of mystery to the lyrics. Sunspots are a phenomenon on the sun's surface, but what do they have to do with the idea of being trapped in routines and facing decay? It could be interpreted as a metaphor for the unexpected disturbances or disruptions that can occur in life, even when everything seems predictable and mundane. The "house of the late scapegoat" adds to the aura of mystery, implying some kind of haunting or unresolved conflict.
Overall, the song seems to be about the struggle to break free from patterns and routines, while also recognizing that life is cyclical and full of unexpected disruptions. The lyrics create a sense of unease, decay, and mystery that capture the feeling of being trapped in repetitive cycles.
Line by Line Meaning
It was on the rotating eyes
It was visible from every angle
It was all on the same postcard
It was all just a fabricated image
It was all on the same damn shirt
It was all redundant and unremarkable
Said to sleep in the same Sear's camp house
Forced to stay in a boring, generic accommodation
It was all in the great state parks
It was all in the same natural, government-owned spaces
It was all on the same Greyhound
It was all part of the same uninspired journey
It was all so many miles
It was a long and tiresome experience
Beneath the dirty brown dirt
Buried and forgotten
Twenty miles down the islands
A far distance away
The biggest mall on Earth
The epitome of consumerism and capitalism
It was all in the same rest stop
It was all a part of the same monotonous journey
It was wall on the same damn shirt
It was all just a repetitive and mundane experience
Sunspots
Small, fleeting moments of happiness or clarity
In the house of the late scapegoat
In an abandoned and misunderstood place
Be aware the paint's still peeling
Be aware of the ugliness and decay that still exists
All muscle cars made of lead
All things in life that were once powerful are now heavy and immobile
I got myself a fine fine fine fine friend
I have found someone truly special and valuable
It was all in the next gray ghost
It was all a part of the same dull and lifeless experience
It was all in the same damn place
It was all frustratingly repetitive and unvarying
The parts to pound attractive
The superficial aspects of life that people find appealing
Your feeling you owe on your size is bleeding
Your sense of self-worth based on superficial attributes is causing you pain
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ISAAC BROCK, JEREMIAH GREEN, ERIC JUDY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@dogmonster27
Instant certified mouse song. This should have been on long drive
@MyBeautifulDarkTwistedFantasy6
I think this EP was recorded after the album came out
@pixie952670
DUDE this song will always be one of the bests. wish it were longer!
@samanthacosgrave
i cant even convey in any fashion how much modest mouse has gotten me through. pain is beauty when you know how to express it. modest fan for life.
@lancebuttercream9817
This song ALONE...changed the way I view music.
@Metroih
This is hands down my favorite band.
@nickanderson9094
matthew scholl easily
@tehmodestmouse6275
Amen
@TheAmazingSnapple
HOW DOES THIS NOT HAVE ANY COMMENTS ON IT? fucking amazing
@dudeman4322
Modest mouse have such cool names for their songs