SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MODEST MOUSE – AN ERASER AND A MAZE

MODEST MOUSE
AN ERASER AND A MAZE
GLACIAL PACE/VIRGIN RECORDS

“Genius might be the ability to say a profound thing in a simple way.” ~ Charles Bukowski

It was the beginning of Summer 2000, and Portland’s Modest Mouse had recently released The Moon & Antarctica. Some good pals and I were lounging in the backyard, gearing up to give the album a first spin. As a longtime fan, with This is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About and The Lonesome Crowded West nearly part of my DNA, listening to a new Modest Mouse offering with big-label money behind it was some exciting stuff for my still-developing mid-twenty-something brain. Suffice to say, my mind was blown. It felt as if the band had matured while still keeping its snotty, scrappy, weird West Coast ways. The lyrics felt more poignant and personal, the musicianship was broader and crisp yet still loose at the seams in that wild Modest Mouse way. If I hadn’t already been won over, The Moon & Antarctica was the prize money, a first-place ribbon, and a big old slice of pie.

It is the beginning of Summer 2026. Modest Mouse has just released their eighth studio album, An Eraser and a Maze, their first album on an indie, singer/guitarist Isaac Brock’s Glacial Pace label, in over 26 years. Having lost touch a bit with the band over the last few years, the thought of listening to a new Modest Mouse offering with bigger backing and indie-label rules was exciting for my now-developed but still spongy middle-aged brain. Sure enough, my mind has been blown. Here is a band that has been going for over 30 years, and they’re still maturing and getting better while still holding true to their weirdo, snotty, West Coast ways. An Eraser and a Maze almost feels like a “best of” album, only in this case, it’s pulling from the best parts of themselves. The scrappy, jingle jangly guitar riffs, the snarl, the beautifully rendered shimmering intros and outros, Isaac Brock’s familiar croon and off-kilter metaphorical howling about small towns, self-contradictory ideas, and mortality, often saying a lot without having to say much. Tracks like “Speak ‘n Spell (or not)” hit hard with an early days punch while “Dogbed in Heaven” and “Song About Nothing” bring on the sombre and quirk, respectively. Of course, the opening track “Picking Dragons’ Pockets” cannot go without mention. It’s big, shiny, a bit chaotic, and a beautiful reintroduction to a band still very much at their best.

Is An Eraser and a Maze their greatest album? That’s not up to me, but I feel like this is some of their finest work. Maybe it’s maturity, perhaps it’s the clean West Coast air or weird Portland ways, or it might just be something profound, laid out quite simply.

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