We Beg While We Chew

Modest Mouse “The Best Room”

I suspect I’d be annoyed by the sentiment of “The Best Room” if it was a song by a lot of other artists, but I actively want to hear Isaac Brock sing from the perspective of a grumpy misanthrope. He’s just really, really good at it. This song is part “let’s get back to nature” and mostly “ugh, these whining entitled assholes and their dumb first world problems.” You’ve heard it before, but Brock makes it sound beautiful somehow. The song is jagged and anxious, but occasionally shifts into oddly tranquil tangents with lovely but understated lead guitar. His language is blunt, but the details are so vivid and specific that it doesn’t come across as a litany of complaints. This is a judgmental song at its core, but I don’t think it’s lacking in empathy. It’s just that frustration and irritation has eclipsed all that.

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