The Moon & Antarctica
Album by Modest Mouse
Released 13 June 2000
Alternative / Indie Rock
Produced by Brian Deck
Rating – 9/10
An explosion is likely to ensue – a wild pack of Modest Mouse fans circa 2000, expecting the worst when their favourite band signs to a major record label. Known for their weird, individualistic brand of oddball indie folk (and let’s face it, there are many other descriptors and genres we could cram into that), the band signed with Epic Records prior to the production of ‘The Moon & Antarctica’. No such upheaval would necessarily occur – however crazed the band, including lead singer/songwriter Isaac Brock, is an approach that would be…retained? Maybe not retained, but the crazy nuances would be traded for crazy explosions of expression, space and afterlife-obsessed themes, and some of the mightiest production efforts we’ve ever heard on an indie rock album.
So, if there’s an explosion here, it’s the explosion that occurs when gravity rides everything, or when the stars become projectors. ‘The Moon & Antarctica’ might be Modest Mouse’s most expansive album, and that is partly due to Isaac Brock’s decision to be a little more explorative and intelligent when searching for themes to write about, partly due to the appointment of Red Red Meat’s Brian Deck as producer, and partly due to the boldness of some of the individual song structures, contributing to the flow of the project.
“Everything that keeps me together is falling apart / I got this thing that I consider my only art – of fucking people over” sings Isaac Brock on opening track ‘3rd Planet’, one his more virtuous vocal performances, melodically-strung with vibrant tact, making for some beautiful juxtaposition considering some of his distorted bellows that would appear later on down the line (see ‘Tiny Cities Made of Ashes’). He goes on to compare your life decisions to the loop of the universe, with the most memorable section of the song being its “well the universe is shaped exactly like the Earth” bridge section. ‘The Moon & Antarctica’ is a frenzy of moods, but Modest Mouse are definitely a little more at peace in its early stages – nothing is breezier than the main sections of ‘Gravity Rides of Everything’ – “ohh gotta see, gotta know right now, what’s that riding on your everything? It isn’t anything at all” – love how self-destructive, philosophical concepts are propped against such light moods.
As mentioned, Brock’s seraphic ways are soon traded for a variety of moods and urges. The descending chords of ‘Dark Center of the Universe’ are held together with thick layers of cosmic glue, giving the track, and Brock’s vocals, a huge, meaty feel – “it took a lot of work to be the ass that I am / and I’m real damn sure that anyone can / equally easily fuck you over”. Other, bass-heavy song styles appear scattered throughout – you could place ‘Life Like Weeds’ in this category, but it isn’t quite as memorable as ‘Tiny Cities Made of Ashes’, thanks to its bass, thanks to its distorted vocal yells of “does anybody know a way that a body could get away?” – or ‘A Different City’, which is the kind of sound I associate with Modest Mouse – dominated by earwormy basslines and a fitting guitar riff, similar to ‘Invincible’ from ‘We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank’, before bowing out with a quirky folk rock passage in the outro.
But the real mood change comes in the form of ‘The Cold Part’, the spot ON the album where any optimism is suddenly shredded, with mere glimmers of such appearing from then on, though the lyrics themselves are supposed to configure a newly-realised emergence of positivity, making for some groovy juxtaposition. The departure is cunning, noticeable and gives ‘The Moon & Antarctica’ its own, distinct flow. I love the change of atmosphere, the gloomy violins, all the while saying goodbye to a part of the world comparable to Hell. ‘Alone Down There’ is even more effective, comprised of completely battered spoken-word sections, before Brock cries out to the listener, singing “I DON’T WANT YOU TO BE ALONE DOWN THERE TO BE ALONE!”.
Every feeling of gloom or ethereal hedonism that can be bought from ‘The Moon & Antarctica’ is recognised on standout track ‘The Stars Are Projectors’. Sitting at eight-minutes of length, the track is comprised of synthesized riff sections, making a change from the usual banjo, followed by wild, commanding spoken-word, before reaching the song’s angelic crescendo of “the stars of projectors yeah, projecting our lives down to this planet earth”. I love how the moments of tranquillity are wrapped around crippling, anti-human displays of dread and uber-religion. It’d take a lot of energy to cope with the comedown that could be plagued upon you by ‘The Stars Are Projectors’, but luckily, little snoozy ditty ‘Wild Packs of Family Dogs’ does the trick itself, featuring some of the strangest lyrics on the record – “as my little sister played, the dogs took her away and I guess she was eaten up okay” – wrapped up in a neat, folk guitar package.
But later track ‘Lives’ keeps some of the momentum of ‘The Stars Are Projectors’ going, structurally abstract and lyrically cryptic, featuring memorable passages like “everyone’s afraid of their own life / if you could be anything you want, I bet you’d be disappointed, am I right?” and “God is a woman, and my mom, she is a witch”. The song is surrounded by the breezier ‘Paper Thin Walls’, the palm-mute-picking, tempo-changing stunner ‘I Came As a Rat’ (“WELL I DON’T KNOW WHAT I BEEN TOLD”), and calamitous, percussion-heavy closer ‘What People Are Made Of’.
Then there’s ‘Perfect Disguise’, forgettable but with enough pretty, haunting guitars to act as Modest Mouse’s answer to Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Albatross’. But the footnotes aren’t important, well they are in their own way, but ‘The Moon & Antarctica’ is full of big, expressive moments like ‘3rd Planet’ and ‘A Different City’ and ‘The Stars Are Projectors’, and the expansive production, distinct, detailed compositional elements, and so much more, makes these big moments that bit more iconic in the world of indie rock.
Favourite songs – ‘Dark Center of the Universe’ – ‘A Different City’ – ‘The Stars Are Projectors’ – ‘I Came As a Rat’.
Honourable mentions – ‘Third Planet’ – ‘Wild Packs of Family Dogs’ – ‘Lives’.
Best aspect – The album’s flow, making its way from moments of uplift to brooding darkness.
Biggest flaw – Isaac Brock’s vocals could get grating, COULD – they might not.
Rating – 9 out of 10
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