Shane Adams Is Writing.

shaneblog:

Brown sat at his desk, drawing himself into his own little world, inattentive to the fact that he was being watched over. For, at that exact time, the visual combust had snuck through the window, and began monitoring Brown’s every move.

Shadrach gasped, and he had every reason to. He had been amazed by what his eyes were seeing. Bright shades of yellow, of red, of magenta, of blue, and images that he had never seen during his lifetime, like a cowboy riding through the Wild West, or a shark, devouring a small, innocent fish. Shadrach had never imagined, let alone seen, these awe-inspiring images in his lifetime. His mentors told him whatever he had been taught in seminar was the truth, and anything else should be considered garbage.

But seeing this imagery, Shadrach realized a fact that never had occurred to him before: his mentors may have been lying. Everything he had been taught wasn’t all there was to know. There was a whole new world, an entire other constellation that he had never been educated on. He wanted to know about this. He wanted to do what this boy did.

Brown fell asleep while drawing an actual size sandcastle. Shadrach continued to watch, and later on, when he himself fell asleep, he dreamed of a constellation, a colorful constellation, a beautiful constellation.

Review: No One’s First And You’re Next

shaneblog:

I’ll be honest: before buying this album, I wasn’t exactly sure who Modest Mouse. Of course I knew they were an indie band, and they played a type of alternative rock, but other then that, I only knew their name.

So, figuring that I knew absloutly nothing about the artists, I decided to look online:

“Modest Mouse is an American indie rock band formed in 1993 in the Seattle suburb of Issaquah, Washington by singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy.

The band has attained significant mainstream success since being signed to Sony’s Epic Records in 2001 and have been one of the leading bands in the commercialization of indie rock, beginning with The Moon & Antarctica and Good News for People Who Love Bad News, which have been certified gold and platinum by the RIAA respectively. They have gone on to sell over three million records since.” (via Wikipedia)

Reading over this, with many mentions of the band’s success, you’d have to wonder how this lone eight track album would hold up to their others. After all, No One’s First and You’re Next consists of tracks that were to be released with Modest Mouse’s best-selling albums, The Moon & Antarctica and Good News for People Who Love Bad News, but didn’t make the cut. Why were they held back? Would this album be trash, and not worth listening to? Nonetheless, I deciede to listen, and, to my enjoyment, Modest Mouse did not disappoint.

Within No One’s First and You’re Next, memories feel to be reawakened, memories of enjoyment, pain, sorrow, loss, and love. These emotions can be found, expressed to the fullest, in tracks such as Autumn Beds and King Rat, two of the strongest songs on the EP. And with catchy, cryptic lyrics, intriguing melodies, and mystical beats in every track, the album easily can relate to anyone.

Easily a EP, Modest Mouse’s choice to release these forgotten tracks was a plus for them. If you’re interested in listening to No One’s First and You’re Next, you can purchase the album on Amazon, and on iTunes. And, though this EP is great, Modest Mouse has many other great, full-length albums available online, which you should also check out.

So, the final verdict? No One’s First and You’re Next is strong, and very enjoyable new release from Modest Mouse. It’s not the best that the band could produce, but it’s a great album to introduce and interest new listeners. I can’t help but wonder what’s next, but there’s no doubt in my mind that whatever it is, it’ll be a great for Modest Mouse.