I was talking to someone about it just before xmas. Maybe mid December. Tis the season ‘n all.
Turns out I wasn’t the only one that had this idea we seem to lose more than our share of beloved artists around the holiday period.
Terry Hall was first. And what can I say? Anyone that knows me knows that I rather grandiosely pronounce the ‘official arrival of spring’ each year by playing The Specials – because sunshine, BBQs and long hot nights just work better with The Specials. No arguments will be entertained on that one – it’s cold, hard fact. Science backs it and you can’t argue with science.
Maxi Jazz was next. I’ll never forget the first time I heard Insomnia. 3am. Chemically altered. MTV or some such channel for anyone old enough to remember that there was a world that existed pre internet. When he told me he couldn’t sleep – I fuckin’ believed him. It scared me a little and I loved it. It stuck with me. Probably always will.
But it was the lesser known Jeremiah Green, drummer and founding member of Modest Mouse that threw me. The news reminded me of a band I’d once loved but had largely forgotten. For no real reason. Music comes and goes. It attaches itself to moments and memories in your life – and tastes like time, move on.
I heard of Jeremiah’s death probably five minutes after the band released a quick social media statement – such is the speed of life (and death) in this digital age.
And I felt it. I don’t know why. So I reached for an old favourite – ‘Everywhere And His Nasty Parlour Tricks’. (2001 EP)
Right away I was taken back. And right away I remembered why this band had meant so much to me. They were something special. Something unique. Something that dared to break with the tried and true sound of almost-guaranteed rock success in the late 90s. They were pushing at boundaries and that’s what I’d always believed that rock n roll was meant to do.
Which brings us to the point in this rant at which I’m probably meant to try and describe their sound for you? But that was precisely their magic – Modest Mouse sounded like Modest Mouse and no other band I knew at the time or have since.
There was an article I read the other day that described them as ‘THE true post grunge pioneers’ and I guess they were. They weren’t happy music. Not an upbeat band by any stretch. Perhaps a slightly more intellectual riposte to the myopic woe-is-me shtick that came to characterise so much of the mid-late 90s rock music scene. They were melodic, clever, witty and they were clearly different.
I never followed the band religiously and I think we parted company right after ‘We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank’ (2007 LP) – which incidentally is probably where they got their biggest taste of mainstream success. As an album it was a departure, finely polished and radio friendly. But it was also clearly a band at the peak of their songwriting prowess. It was and is a damn fine record.
Over the last few days I’ve gone back over their early catalogue and I’m happy to say it’s just as good as – if not a little better than – I remember it being. I never liked everything they did but the songs of theirs I did connect with – I really connected with. I’m pleased to report that I still do.
So farewell Jeremiah. I never knew you but you touched me and I thank you for that.
For anyone who has bothered to read this far – do yourself a favour and go have a dig through the Modest Mouse back catalogue if you don’t already know it. I think too many of us missed something unique and special there. It’s easy listening rock music that stands the test of time.
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