Modest Mouse Lonesome Crowded West 2X LP OOP

$

104

Modest Mouse: Lonesome Crowded West

I bought this album the day it came out.  I have recorded it to mini-disc and no longer need the vinyl like some of my fellow collectors out there.  The albums are in great condition. NO RESERVE. 

Feel free to ask me any questions.

Good Luck. 

Please be prepared to pay within 3 days. 

Here are some reviews:

For the uninitiated, Modest Mouse hail from the Seattle area and sound like a jammier Pixies if Black Francis had Attention Deficit Disorder. This Mouse can't be but so modest, releasing two double albums (including The Lonesome Crowded West), two EPs and three singles in just over a year. Such quantity implies a confidence not quite realized until this album. Here we find a little of everything -- a turntable adding scratches to the conventional rock sound of "Heart Cooks Brain", a down-by-the-river fiddle on "Jesus Christ was an Only Child", a few pop nuggets and several longer pieces with a half-dozen tempo changes.

Thematic glue binds the musical sprawl, with stream- of- conciousness lyrics touching on the familiar Mouse topics of suburban decay, the lonely road, confusion and dislocation. Frontman Isaac Brock's lyrics are like a glass table at an SNL cast party, with finely-chopped lines pointing in all directions: "My brain's a cliff/ and my heart's the bitter buffalo" ("Heart Cooks Brain"); "I'm drowning upside down/ my feet afloat like Christ's" ("Styrofoam Boots"). When a band's oldest member is twenty-three, the active word is usually "potential." Modest Mouse, however, have arrived.

-Mark Richardson

The Lonesome Crowded West is an exemplary model of classic Modest Mouse. It is been stated to be the album that defines the band. It represents all that they stand for and proves to the music world that they are more than just another indie rock band. Modest Mouse not only does a magical job of writing symbolic lyrics; they also weave a tapestry of interesting tales. This stellar album is an effectively conceptual album, expressing Brock's disapproval at the ever-present onslaught of western society while also exerting the psychological virtues of cutting ties from loved ones and traveling forward into unknown territories. Brock seems to have hit upon a unique concept for this album by throwing everything up into the air, leaving the occasional repeated lyrics or image to bewilder and intrigue the listener. The lyrics are poetic and emotionally provocative but not for the easily offended. One thing is for sure Modest Mouse's music is neither modest or mouse-like.

      The intense and powerful album first explodes with the fast tempo of “Teeth Like God’s Shoeshine,” a quick tune, which is riveting, inspiring, and psychologically surprising. Next the album progresses into “Heart Cooks Brain” which is an eclectic tune with a pleasant rhythm and lyrics stating the “In this life that we call home the years go so fast and the days go so slow.” “Convenient Parking” which begins low key, turns into a powerful chorus expressing the pointlessness of living in today's crowded west with lyrics stating “aren’t you feeling real dirty sitting in your car with nothing.” “Lounge (Closing Time)” has a fun, funky style combined with nice guitar and bass accompaniment. It deals with the feeling of isolation at closing time stating “I’m on the road to God don’t know, my brain's the burger and my heart's the coal, it’s closing time,” which, not coincidentally considering Isaac's penchant for repeating certain lines, is also stated in “Heart Cooks Brain." “Jesus Christ Was An Only Child” features an acoustic guitar and a fiddle tackling the commercialization of religion rather bluntly. “Doin’ the Cockroach” is always a hit and coveted at any live performances, judging from the crowds repeated pleas. One poignant line that sticks out with me is “I was in Heaven, I was in Hell, believe in neither but fear them as well.” “Out of Gas” is an interesting track with a soft intro. that kicks into a groovy chorus. “Trucker's Atlas” could possibly be my favorite track on the album, with its angular sound and Brock's angst-ridden voice it may be an acquired taste for some, but for others this is indie-rock at its best.

      Other wondrous highlights to the album are quality songs that serve as a tribute to the poor working class of today. “Cowboy Dan” has dynamic lyrics stating “Every time you think you're walking you're just moving the ground, Every time you think you're talking your just moving your mouth, Every time you think you're looking you're just looking down.” Another example of this is “Trailer Trash” with a chorus stating “live in trailers with no class, taking heartache with hard work, Goddamn I am such a jerk, I can’t do anything”. “Polar Opposites” is a lovable, almost poppy tune exuding an emotional state dealing with the barren plain of alcoholism and depression with lyrics such as “I’m trying to drink away the part of the day that I cannot sleep away.”

      The Lonesome Crowded West is a record of indisputable excellence and yet limitless frustrations. It is sheer amazement that Brock manages to articulate all of lifes major questions and difficulties in such an insightful and thought provoking way. Sometimes layered, sometimes raw, sometimes spastically refusing to settle down, The Lonesome Crowded West is as baffling as it is amazing. Modest Mouse deals with ugly subjects and it does so effectively, with honesty and enlightened understanding. Stylistically it can be both coarse and difficult. The lyrics on within display a wide variety of themes including anger, shame, subservience, isolation, alcoholism, religious confusion, commercialism, corruption, self-loathing, and self-destruction. Somehow Isaac manages to grasp these ideas and throw them altogether onto one paper plate, stirred around with a plastic fork, and molded into one man's abstract history lesson about the downfall of western civilization.

-Christine Beals 12/29/03

The records and the covers are Near Mint or VG+