Modest Mouse: A Pretty Good Read

by Alan Goldsher

THE BEST WAY TO BECOME A ROCK STAR IS SOMETIMES THE WORST WAY TO BECOME A ROCK STAR

Unruly and antagonistic, the Washington State rock trio Modest Mouse would seem like one of the least likely candidates for mainstream Their often brilliant live performances sometimes collapsed into utter chaos. Their highly original, highly off-center songs ran as long as eleven minutes. And their leader managed to raise eyebrows among music writers, law officials . . . and sometimes even his fans.

But Modest Mouse persevered. They didn't compromise their original, compelling musical style, nor did they lighten up on the attitude. They just waited for the world at large to catch up.

In 2004, with the release of their smash single "Float On," it finally happened. And it was worth the wait. For everybody.

Journalist Alan Goldsher uncovers the strange, little-known details of Modest Mouse's rise from DIY indie heroes to platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated international superstars. Goldsher also reveals the troubled background and fractured history of frontman Isaac Brock, a charismatic, cantankerous singer/songwriter who has spent as much time avoiding the media as he has attempting to control it.

Thoroughly researched, sharply funny, and filled with more than thirty rare photos, this unauthorized biography shows how Modest Mouse trashed the Behind the Music mold and created their own unique version of the rock 'n' roll, rags-to-expensive-rags success story.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published November 14, 2006

About the author

Alan Goldsher is the author of the acclaimed Beatles/horror remix novel, "Paul Is Undead: The British Zombie Invasion" and the forthcoming "The Sound of Music" mash-up "My Favorite Fangs: The Story of the von Trapp Family Vampires."

He has written nine other books, including "Hard Bop Academy: The Sidemen of Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers" and "Modest Mouse: A Pretty Good Read." Written as A.M. Goldsher, his chicklit novels "The True Naomi Story," "Reality Check," "Today’s Special," and "No Ordinary Girl" were released by Little Black Dress Books in the U.K. and Marabout in France between 2008-2011.

As a ghostwriter, Alan has collaborated on projects with dozens of notable celebrities and public figures, including comics Kevin Pollak and Bernie Mac, jazz legend George Benson, athletes John Salley and Sarah Reinertsen, and director Tobe Hooper.

His music journalism has appeared in Bass Player and Guitar Player, and his sportswriting has been seen in ESPN The Magazine, ESPN.com, NBA.com, and ChicagoBulls.com. He also reviews books for Kirkus.

During his 10-plus years as a professional bassist, Goldsher recorded with Janet Jackson, Cypress Hill, and Naughty by Nature; toured the world with Digable Planets; and performed at the 1994 Grammy Awards.

Alan lives and writes in Chicago. Visit him at http://www.AlanGoldsher.com.

Reviews

[Patrick · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ok, on the plus side, this guy did something I've always wanted to see in a music bio, that being an analysis of every single song. Everything else he did was horrible. First of all, he keeps refering to "lo-fi" as a musical genre, which it is not, it just means that in most bands' early days they don't have money for recording studios so they record themselves on 4 or 8 track machines. That's like saying Betamax is a type of movie like comedy or romance. Then he starts talking about the songs in terms of music theory, which is the kiss of death because anyone who is not a seasoned musician is going to have no idea what you're talking about when you start mentioning time signatures, like, "This song has an unexpected break into 4/5 time," and then starts talking about chords, like "This song is a typical C/D/G," and then goes so far as to nickname a certain type of chord progression after songwriter Issac Brock, "We'll label these types of songs an 'Issac Downward Progression,' or 'IDP' for short," which he uses throughout the book. You have got to be fucking kidding me, dude. Once you play a note, you are either going to go up or down with the next one, you can't go sideways. As if this wasn't annoying enough, he intrusively talks about himself randomly in the book, which you can ignore for awhile, up until one interlude where he fucking tells a story about his nu-metal band touring with 311 in 1993, and how when his band played, they would make themselves "accessible" after the show to talk to people because they didn't want to seem like "primadonnas." WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU? NO ONE HAS EVER HEARD OF YOUR FUCKING BAND, YOU'RE NOT A ROCK STAR. THERE IS NO POSSIBLE POINT YOU COULD EVER MAKE ABOUT MODEST MOUSE THAT WOULD REQUIRE YOU TO INVOKE THE NAME 311, YOU DUMB SHIT. Seriously, why did no one stop this guy? His editor was either his girlfriend, his little brother, or somehow just as retarded as him. Wow. I almost put the book down right then and there but I only had 30 more pages. Oh my Christ, why?

[dirt · Rating 1 out of 5]

A pretty quick read. A thin book. A poorly research compendium.

The most impressive thing about this book is how much of it is about Alan Goldsher and how little is about Modest Mouse. The author finds innumerable ways to mention he's a bass player and writes for bass player magazine. Other fun facts about Alan: He cuts his own hair, he passes empty store fronts while grocery shopping, he toured as fill in bassist for Shottyz Groove. Somehow he even was able to name drop other books he has written.

Alan devotes entire chapters (fancifully called interludes) to non-Modest Mouse topics such as "how to write a rock biography", "Alan Goldsher's definition of Lo-Fi & why it's a better term than Indie", & "Wikipedia's entry on the topic of side projects". These interludes are nothing more than obvious padding to cover for Goldschlagger's lack of research. He whines that the members of Modest Mouse wouldn't consent to being interviewed by him, which was another show of good judgment on M.M.'s part.

Pretty much any schmuck could have cut and pasted Lexus-Nexus searchers together and had a more insightful book. A Pretty Good Read is a hack job trying to ride the coat tails of Modest Mouse's success. Good thing this was a library book and I didn't personally contribute to Alan's ego fund.

[Bridget · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't get me wrong - this is an awful book - but I dare say, it's so bad it's good. The author's attitude and resentment are on every page and make you root against him getting any inside information or interviews.

[Rene · Rating 1 out of 5]

this book is sucking ass...debating not finishing. the author's crush on lead singer isaac brock is embarrassing. life is too short to waste on sucky books. that's a direct quote from the bible...i think.

[Caleb Collins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Man I wish I could rate this higher but “A Pretty Good Read” it was not. I feel like unauthorized bios are only as good as the info they can get, and while there’s some interesting stuff in here, it’s kinda filled with opinions of the author. And those opinions are often pretentious and unneeded. I’d say if I never read another book by Alan Goldsher it would be fine by me. If this book wasn’t about one of my favorite bands I would have probably given up half way through.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book, not just for Modest Mouse fans, but for any music fan. Goldsher makes this book tons of fun with factoids and observations about the band and how it came to be, whilst sprinkling musical anecdotes (or interludes, as he refers to them) throughout. This kind of format prevents the material about the band itself from becoming monotonous. Goldsher departs from the tabloid trend of focusing on the controversial makings and antics of this band. With the musical interludes about the record business, Robert Johnson, Charlie Parker, and even the distinction of the unauthorized biography, the author engages the casual fan of a band whose true potential lies, not within its myth-making existence, but with its raw, unquestionable musical talent.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this is a very interesting and well written book. Well worth it. Cleverly set up by the author also. I enjoyed his wit.

[Shaylin Surratt]

I actually only read the first chapter or so; it's not exactly the kind of book a Modest Mouse fan wants to read.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great book. I am their biggest fan, loved all the anecdotes/stories behind songs etc.

[Frank · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a big fan of Modest Mouse's early work, I saw this existed and thought, "hey, this might be good," so I picked up a used copy. Unfortunately, I've put this one down indefinitely not even halfway through. Goldsher's writing is pretty annoying to read here, and while the information is all there, the way it's conveyed is grating. I groaned every time I came across a seemingly non-sequitur "interlude" chapter, each of which had an extremely stretchy connection to the band, and while Isaac Brock is the primary creative force in Modest Mouse, the book feels more like an Isaac Brock biography than a Modest Mouse biography. Of course, there is also the author's particularly irritating insistence on referring to indie/slacker rock as "lo-fi," and an excessive amount of body text dedicated to Goldsher complaining about not being able to contact people for the book. Don't particularly recommend this one.

[Bluebell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was on page 40 and realised it’s not worth wasting my time on this book...

[Weston · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s simply a book about Modest Mouse and it’s history. What else were people expecting?

[Aaron Dorsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

The most interesting part of this book was the interlude where the author explains, rather defensively, what an unauthorized biography is. He ends with “but I tried.” An attempt was indeed made.

[Jordan Lawson · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, I should point out that I am definitely one of M.Ms biggest fans. I, prior to reading "A Pretty Good Read", have researched EVERYTHING out there that's available on the internet and in magazines. With that said, it was better researched than some of the reviewers are giving him credit for seeing as I did learn a couple things about the band that I didn't know before. Most were even direct quotes that Isaac or Deck had said. A COUPLE SPOILERS:


For instance, the details surrounding the bidding war between Epic and Dreamworks was included. Or that some of The Moon and Antarctica was inspired by Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian after reading it to help with writers block. Unlike many other reviewers, I enjoyed his wit. I think it's very well written and I didn't really mind the musician jargon as a non-musician. I especially appreciate the break-down of songs. That was a good call; however, I was slightly annoyed that he would give HIS opinion rather than those of popular consensus. For instance, he is quoted on page 112 as saying "The Stars Are Projectors is technology and overindulgence run amuck. In light of Moon's appealing succinctness, this is just TOO MUCH: too many post production effects, a tedious jam section that's far too long, too many pasted-together style changes." This was definitely a point in the book where I thought "fuck you dude! That's just like your opinion man." You can't argue that at 3:34 "We've got the harder part, you've got the kinder heart, and it's true, I've got the easy part, I've got the harder heart, ain't that true" would carry as much weight as it does if it weren't followed by "Was there need for creation that was hidden in a math equation and that's this?" The music after these questions are far from what most Modest Mouse fans would call a "jam session".
At the end of the day, I was just happy to be reading a fellow fan's break down and interpretations of Modest Mouse and it did felt like he was having a conversation with the reader so I give the guy mad props for putting together a comprehensive collection of what little interviews Isaac Brock had done up to this point.

[Dactyl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I originally read this book back in 2007, when I was a lot younger, and enjoyed it a lot more then than now.

The author didn't add too much of value to what is basically a collection of paraphrased interviews and articles from magazines/around the web.

As a fan of Modest Mouse, this book /does/ contain some interesting back story, and it's fun to read what Isaac and the boys have to say.

The author basically stitches together a bunch of already accessible information in a unfunny and highly opinionated way.

This is good if you skip through most of it and just read the little snippets of interviews from the band/their colleagues. Don't read the whole thing like I did, it's tedious and unsatisfying.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't love this book. although it is not entirely the author's fault. The band, and Isaac Brock specifically, is very difficult and wouldn't grant an interview to the author...so that I think, hurts the book a lot.

The other reason I didn't like it that much is that I found that while I really enjoy MM's music, I am not very impressed with them as people. Big contrast to the book I recently read about U2, where I found that I both loved their music and found them to be interesting thinkers and people.

Bottom line, love their music, but didn't love this book.

[Nicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book seemed to be about the author and how he was in love with Isaac Brock, but had been burned by the fact that the band would not allow him to write an authorized biography. The author could not remain objective at all so if you are annoyed by hearing someone's opinion the entire time this is not the book for you. The author breaks down every album song by song but he wasn't a great judge of... well... anything.

[Corey · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing is atrocious and self satisfying and his awareness of this style of music (which he calls lo-fi but it is inaccurate to call it this) is very, very poor. His opinions on the music itself are strange. But, there are many funny Isaac Brock quotes (taken from other sources) sprinkled throughout.

[Doris Raines · Rating 4 out of 5]

I. Really. Like. This. Book. One. Do. Not. Become. A. Good. Reader. Because. He. Or. She. Reads. One. She. Or. He. Must. Frist. Learn. How. To. Read. To. Be. Own. This. Site. Call. Good. Reads. Happy. Reading Doris.

[Scarlett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm just glad there is a good book out about Modest Mouse. Great band. Great book. Great Read.

[Adara · Rating 1 out of 5]

more like a pretty terrible read

[Damon]

This Book was awful...the pitts really. The entire time I was reading it I thought why is this guy even writing it. The band wanted nothing to do with him or the book and I don't blame them.

[Daniel Reid · Rating 1 out of 5]

This might be the worst book I've ever read.

[Mike Hathaway · Rating 3 out of 5]

So far ok. The Author thinks he is pretty sweet though. He needs to relax sometimes.