Album Review: The Golden Casket by Modest Mouse

Wanted to start a series of album reviews, and I'm starting out with this one :3 I absolutely love Modest Mouse in general, and some of the one's I'm doing on here are going to be new to me, while others I've heard before, but I'll be listening to them all as I review them.

[Track 1] Fuck Your Acid Trip: The start to this song is pretty trippy, no pun intended. But I think that's the point, considering the name. Something in the song evokes a sense of urgency, especially the line "Fuck your acid trip, I need to get home now" as the trippiness only gets more intense. Then the chorus comes and it's very clear and upbeat with the backtrack but is talking about how his friends will be fine without him and if he needs to go, he has to now before the acid trip hits, but when it does he doesn't leave instead saying "Fuck your acid trip I need to come down" Overall a very trippy, upbeat song with solid lyrics.

[Track 2] We Are Between: My favorite on this album. it's helped me a lot when I've been feeling down. The concept that, yeah this is the worst AND best part, life is a pendulum swinging between the two and right now, we're in the middle. While the lyrics are somewhat simple the line "Somewhere between dust and the stars" really makes me think that yeah, humans are 'dust and to dust we shall return' but we strive to go higher and do something better, landing between what we originally were and our goals. A very good song that I return to frequently for its upbeat sound, reflective lyrics, and simple realism, rather than optimism or pessimism, which honestly feels like the epitome of Modest Mouse.

[Track 3] We're Lucky: Similarly to We Are Between, it's a song that makes me realize how lucky we are to just be here. We may be struggling to no longer be 'between' but we still exist, and it'll take a while just to figure everything out. "It takes a lifetime to figure out there ain't no lifetime that's ever figured out." I love the almost childlike song-type that it brings, viewing the world around us with new innocence as we realize how much we've been gifted just to be in between the stars and the sea and the plants and the ground. 

[Track 4] Walking And Running: A really weird start to a song, but not in a bad way. A little trippy, a little groovy, beat focused. The chorus is really catchy and I could see this being good to work out to, but it doesn't feel extremely cohesive with the verses and the backtrack feels a little disjointed. I think that's the intent of the song, but it simultaneously sounds off-putting and also extremely catchy and good. It's very high energy, but feels to me like it doesn't bear the same depth of meaning as the other songs on the album, though it does bring some good points to the table, as the chorus says "There are some thoughts, that should never form to words inside our throats."

[Track 5] Wooden Soldiers: Again starts out kind of trippy but I really like the way it starts. It's got a gnarly bass and the deeper voice is something I love seeing in Modest Mouse songs that feels like it isn't utilized as often. The continuous themes in their songs about the ocean and future plans "making plans making plans as the tide rolls in" invokes the concept that you can make plans but life can come and wash them away. The sound of the chorus even goes from excited to more melancholy, knowing that they will be washed away. "These fuckers wanted guilt, they tore me down and I rebuilt" this part of the next verse is said with anger that what was built and planned was washed away, but you still go back and build again. The sound really pairs so well right along with the lyrics and the emotions evoked in the singing. My second favorite on the album, very close to We Are Between. "Just being here now is enough for me" seems to be a recurring theme in the album and really endears it to me, as I have troubles constantly planning ahead and it reminds to enjoy now as well. "Just being here, being you's enough for me" reminds me of how just having someone else there can help pull me out of my problems. Just a friend stopping by or sitting with me in silence on a bench outside. 

[Track 6] Transmitting Receiving: Love the sound of this one but he's sorta just...listing things. I get the point, "some things are aren't visible" and "we are repeating, we are transmitting, we are receiving." "Nothing in this world's gonna petrify me." Taking back control in a world that is focused on things like the internet and calls shouldn't scare us, but we should know that much like transmitted calls that aren't visible, sunbeams aren't visible, and neither is air. At least I think that's the point it's getting at, as half the song is him mentioning genuinely random stuff. It sounds like a more chilled out Red Hot Chili Peppers song off of Return to the Dream Canteen, and that's saying something. Once again I think this one has the point of like living in the moment but come on, 5 minutes and 30 seconds of this?

[Track 7] The Sun Hasn't Left: Hello? The xylophone? I love the use of an unconventional instrument, especially with the vocal style he's using. I think this one is trying to basically say exist in the moment. It's good to look forward and try to fix things, and to recognize it's a mess, but we should acknowledge what we have left. It might feel like "friendships are just a string of texts" but that's still human interaction, the air is still here, the sun exists, the sea is still there. Once again he's pointing to the natural world as something left for us, trees and cacti, etc. Despite the fact that neither of us know each other "I don't know you, you don't know me" we are still the part of the general 'us' of the human race "you and I are us, you see" I really like the part where he says "count backwards from zero, the winner wastes the time" because it's a completely arbitrary taste, counting backwards from zero, and while yes, you can win, but it's a waste of their time, accomplishing nothing but an arbitrary title. 

[Track 8] Lace Your Shoes: Okay the keyboard use in this feels like an 80s puppet show intro and I love it! The deeper voice is back, which is great. This song seems to be about his children, how he can't wait to see his kids grow up and learn how to lace their shoes and go to school. Though, the image "Cause the sunshine pours out of your mouth and eyes" invokes is a little...strange but I totally get the point of his kids being the bright spot clarifying his life. I love the sound of this one too, and love to see musicians making music about things like this, their kids and specific things like "Your sister just makes noises like some sort of bird that I just cannot seem to place" is so simultaneously grounding and surreal. "I spend too much time out on the deck, staring out at nothing, while nothing at all blankly stares right back" paired with "and I hope there's still something left for you" After just reassuring us that there are things left for us and that we need to recognize that, he admits his own insecurities for his own children, that he feels there is nothing left for him so he can only hope there's something left out there for his children. 

[Track 9] Never Fuck A Spider On The Fly: I...this title is bizarre but I love the way it starts with deep keyboard noises. It's slightly off beat, though I think on purpose. Still jarring though, and honestly I don't really like this one. It has the vibe of someone getting high and thinking they're saying something profound and just putting some beat on it that they also made while high. Probably my least favorite so far.

[Track 10] Leave A Light On: Okay, another trippy beginning, I like the plinky backtrack, really captures my attention. I like the jaunty approach to this one, and I think it's a good way to approach the different ways each individual person lives and yet they're part of the network of friends or people we know.

[Track 11] Japanese Trees: I like the backtrack on this and the inclusion of the electric guitars. Probably my third favorite on the album. I like the switch up in the middle and then the return to the guitar backtrack. "You're twisted and you're bent like a Japanese Tree" Is honestly a great and relatable line for me. Not really any criticisms on this one for me. 

[Track 12] Back To The Middle: This one feels strangely nostalgic. It feels like when I backslide and I'm back where I started but each time I remember more and more how to claw my way out of the hole that opened up underneath me. The guitar is immaculate, honestly another one of my favorites, may even overtake for number 1 or 2. Deeply relatable and gnarly sounding song.

[Overall rating/opinion]  9/10: There are a few songs that take away from the overall greatness, but this one has a special place in my heart, I even own the record and listen to it regularly. Transmitting Receiving and Never Fuck A Spider On The Fly really are what detracted that one point, and I was tempted to knock off another half and go with 8.5 but the overall tied-in meaning between the songs creating a cohesive album really makes it an enjoyable chronological listen. The songs compound upon each other's meanings, really building up the overall topic, which can be hard to find when a lot of albums can feel like a cobbled together jumble of many different points.