‘The Lonesome Crowded West’ by Modest Mouse

This week finds me going back to one of my favorite times in music, 1997, an absolutely incredibly good year for music which saw releases like Björk’s Homogenic, Elliott Smith’s Either/Or, Built to Spill’s Perfect from Now On, Daft Punk’s Homework, Ween’s The Mollusk, Pavement’s Brighten the Corners, Buena Vista Social Club’s self-titled album, and one of my personal favorite album’s of all time, The Lonesome Crowded West by Modest Mouse. I’ve heard the songs on Lonesome described as ‘hypnotic’ and I can definitely relate to that.

The Lonesome Crowded West is the second album from Modest Mouse, following This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About (1996), and had their classic core lineup of singer/songwriter Isaac Brock on guitars and vocals, Jeremiah Green on drums, and Eric Judy on bass. It’s nearly impossible to pick a favorite song on the album as every single track is 100% pure gold, but this morning I’ve been listening to “Polar Opposites.”