10 Most Underrated Indie Rock Albums Of All Time
4. Modest Mouse - This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About
Before Modest Mouse honed their sound into something more radio friendly, they were a far looser, more jam-focussed proposition. Built around the unmistakable vocals of key member Isaac Brock, long, meandering songs, and layers of inventive guitar work, they weren’t quite the finished article from the off but had a vibe that made them stand out immediately.
1996 debut This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About is their most explicit excursion into jam band territory, with tracks like “Lounge” launching off with punky energy before segueing into a brittle but pretty extended coda, complete with string section.
The likes of “Novocaine Stain” hint at the band they’d become, a lyrically mysterious but hook laden track that evolves a good deal in under four minutes. The centrepiece is “Beach Side Property”, a seven minute track which breaks itself down to nothingness before roaring back to life for a grandstand finale.
Modest Mouse would find greater balance between experimental sessions and traditional songwriting on their next two records, but Long Drive is a properly bold and confident debut for a band on the cusp of big things.