As some Hopp Stop readers know, the new Mouse album, “We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank,” is my favorite album of the year so far. It seems like I have a new favorite every time I listen to it, with “Dashboard,” “We’ve Got Everything,” “People as Places” and “Invisible” as my current favorite tracks.
Anyway, there was an interesting All Songs Considered podcast on the new album a couple weeks back that discussed Johnny Marr’s role, and how you couldn’t really hear him on many tracks. This month’s Spin magazine has an article on the Mouse that, inter alia, expands on the analysis of Marr’s role. Setting aside the asinine cover blurb (“When Isaac Met Johnny…Booze, Big Bucks and the Remaking of Modest Mouse”), it’s an interesting read.