"The Golden Casket" by Modest Mouse
Six years after Modest Mouse’s last studio album, The Golden Casket welcomes fans on a new journey that blends the affection and gratitude leadsinger Isaac Brock learned through fatherhood with the cynical skepticism of the band’s past. “Fuck Your Acid Trip” opens the album, welcoming old fans into Modest Mouse’s new era with Brock’s anxious vocals and crass tone. The track subverts fans’ expectations with a comforting sing-songy chorus that repeats “Figure it out / We’ll figure it out.” Throughout the album, the band rejects the harsh screams that defined Modest Mouse’s earlier albums and includes calmer, catchier choruses, making The Golden Casket more accessible to pop audiences. The first time I heard pre-released single “We Are Between” I worried The Golden Casket would try too hard to modernize the band’s iconic sound, but to my surprise, the album proved that Modest Mouse has evolved for the better.
Throughout The Golden Casket, the band asks its audience to embrace the gray area between the bad and good parts of life and to treasure the more simple “betweens.” Listeners can hear Modest Mouse expand on this thesis during “We Are Lucky.” The song sounds like Brock simplifying the complexities of life for his children: “These are my eyes and these are my feet / Well, these are some places that I’m lucky just to be between / These are the stars and these are the seas.” Recently, Brock admitted that he is tempted to write a children’s album, which I think is ironic considering the album’s opening track is about doing acid; however, looking past the PG13 content of The Golden Casket, there are many moments where listeners can hear Brock playing with this idea. The playful and tactile opening instrumentals of “The Sun Hasn’t Left” alongside the endearing lyrics of “Lace Your Shoes” reflect Brock’s desire to write for children.
When Brock set out to write this album, he swore not to use acoustic instruments, but the completion of certain songs required him to pick his guitar back up. I love the use of guitar in “Wooden Soldiers” because it places the song in conversation with the hypnotic loneliness expressed by the instrument on albums like The Moon & Antarctica and creates closure for the cynical messages of the band’s earlier songs. As a long-time Modest Mouse fan, hearing Brock sing “Me just being here now is enough for me” followed by “You just being here you’s enough for me” is emotional. The lyrics indicate that Brock is moving away from the sentiment of songs like “The Good Times Are Killing Me” and embracing his gratitude for the present.
The shift away from the band’s cynical past continues with “The Sun Hasn’t Left” and “Leave a Light On.” These two songs are what worried me when I heard “We Are Between” and wondered if Modest Mouse would try too hard to modernize their sound. The two songs are definitely the most radio-friendly pop songs I have ever heard Modest Mouse play, but I am relieved to state that they exceeded my expectations. The Golden Casket is full of surprises for old fans, and for me, enjoying a more mainstream sound from the band was one of them.
The majority of Modest Mouse’s albums ask the listener to accompany the band on a journey, and The Golden Casket takes listeners back to this journey with the penultimate song, “Japanese Trees.” Even though the choruses are sing-songy, each verse returns to the band’s classic sound, making “Japanese Trees” the perfect blend of old and new Modest Mouse. The track masterfully fades into “Back To The Middle” where the band answers the question posed by the outro: “Well you need a place to go / But where can it be?” With its final song, The Golden Casket returns to the album's original thesis and drops the listener off in “between.” While I listened to this album, there were times where I felt like it would be Modest Mouse’s last, but now, I can see that they have simply welcomed listeners into the band’s new era. I look forward to seeing where Modest Mouse takes us next, but in the meantime, I am content with hanging out in the “between.”
– Maddie Vonk