The Lonesome Crowded West

The Lonesome Crowded West
Studio album by Modest Mouse
Released November 18, 1997
Recorded Moon Music, Olympia, Washington, May/June 1997 except tracks 1,6,7 at Avast Studios, Seattle, Washington
Summer 1997
Genre Indie rock, Punk rock, Experimental rock, emo[1]
Length 73:58
Label

Up UP044

Glacial Pace (2014 reissue)
Producer Calvin Johnson, Isaac Brock, Scott Swayze
Modest Mouse chronology
The Fruit That Ate Itself
(1997)		 The Lonesome Crowded West
(1997)		 Night on the Sun
(1999)

The Lonesome Crowded West is the second full-length album recorded by alternative rock[2] band Modest Mouse. The album was released on Up Records on November 18, 1997, on both compact disc and vinyl LP.

Many consider the album to be one of the best indie rock albums of the 1990s: Pitchfork Media ranked it #29 in their list 100 Greatest Albums of the 1990s,[3] and the song "Trailer Trash" #63 in their list of the 200 Greatest Songs of the decade.[4] Spin ranked it #59 in their list the 100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005,[5] and Entertainment Weekly included the album in their list The Indie Rock 25.[6] The A.V. Club has described the album as the band's breakthrough recording.[7] In June 2012, Pitchfork.tv released a forty-five-minute documentary on the album. The documentary included archival footage taken during live performances and original recording/mix sessions.[8]

The album was reissued on CD and vinyl by Isaac Brock's Glacial Pace record label in 2014 along with This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About.

The two towers pictured on the album's cover are The Westin Seattle.[9]

Critical Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[10]
The Austin Chronicle[11]
Chicago Tribune[12]
NME6/10[13]
Paste9.5/10[14]
Pitchfork Media10/10[15]
Rolling Stone[16]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[17]
Spin8/10[18]
StereogumUnfavorable[19]
The Village VoiceA–[2]

The reviews to the album have been mostly positive. Blake Butler of AllMusic praised the diversity "They can do quiet, brooding acoustics like "Bankrupt on Selling" and dark and pounding thrashers like "Cowboy Dan".[20] His overall review of the album was "Give this album a listen and you can be sure that you will be singing the rambling, catchy, almost whiny vocals in no time.[20]" However, in a more unpositive review from Sam Hockley-Smith of Stereogum, he wrote negative about the recording saying[19] "The Lonesome Crowded West sprawled and tripped over itself. Brock sounded either completely exhausted or beyond destroyed." He criticized Modest Mouse's criticism of what was going on in the world by saying "Modest Mouse were too inward-looking and neurotic to be a preachy environmental band.[19]"

He however praised the album's honesty saying "Brock’s writing is pretty literal: nature’s going, the world is messed up and not getting any better, so what else do do but go down in a drunken ball of anger and impotence?[19]" He also criticized "the vocals of the album, but once again praised the honesty: "On The Lonesome Crowded West, he[19] sounds desperate for catharsis, aiming for the stars but barely making it to the roof. It’s not pretty, but it’s honest, and that honesty makes it beautiful."

His overall opinion of the album was that the album made Modest Mouse a great band, but it was "Dramamine, from This is a Long Drive was the moment that Brock’s skill at writing isolation became apparent.[19]" He compared the previous album saying [19] "By the time Lonesome Crowded West came out a few years later, Brock’s world was composed of endless touring, endless strip malls, and a constant scrabble for meaning in that pavement."

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Modest Mouse. 

No. Title Length
1. "Teeth Like God's Shoeshine"   6:53
2. "Heart Cooks Brain"   4:03
3. "Convenient Parking"   4:08
4. "Lounge (Closing Time)"   7:03
5. "Jesus Christ Was an Only Child"   2:36
6. "Doin' the Cockroach"   4:18
7. "Cowboy Dan"   6:14
8. "Trailer Trash"   5:49
9. "Out of Gas"   2:31
10. "Long Distance Drunk"   3:42
11. "Shit Luck"   2:22
12. "Truckers Atlas"   10:57
13. "Polar Opposites"   3:29
14. "Bankrupt on Selling"   2:53
15. "Styrofoam Boots/It's All Nice on Ice, Alright"   6:53

Vinyl edition

The double-vinyl edition released on Up Records includes an extra track; "Baby Blue Sedan", and a slightly re-ordered track listing. Rather than having a gatefold cover to house both records, or putting both records in a single cover, the double-vinyl release was shipped in two different covers. The 2014 vinyl reissue on Glacial Pace contains the same track listing and two-cover configuration.

Side one
No. Title Length
1. "Teeth Like God's Shoeshine"   6:53
2. "Heart Cooks Brain"   4:03
3. "Convenient Parking"   4:08
4. "Baby Blue Sedan"   4:04
Side two
No. Title Length
1. "Jesus Christ Was an Only Child"   2:36
2. "Doin' the Cockroach"   4:19
3. "Cowboy Dan"   6:15
4. "Trailer Trash"   5:50
Side three
No. Title Length
1. "Out of Gas"   2:31
2. "Long Distance Drunk"   3:43
3. "Shit Luck"   2:23
4. "Truckers Atlas"   10:58
Side four
No. Title Length
1. "Polar Opposites"   3:30
2. "Bankrupt on Selling"   2:54
3. "Lounge (Closing Time)"   7:04
4. "Styrofoam Boots/It's All Nice on Ice, Alright"   6:53

Personnel

Modest Mouse

Additional personnel

Production credits

References

  1. ↑ http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-lonesome-crowded-west-mw0000596977
  2. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (January 27, 1998). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Pitchfork Media Top 100 Albums of the 1990s, page 8.". Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  4. ↑ "Pitchfork Staff Lists: The Top 200 Tracks of the 1990s: 20-1.". Retrieved 2010-10-01.
  5. ↑ "Spin's 100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005". Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  6. ↑ "Entertainment Weekly, The Indie Rock 25.". Retrieved 2010-10-22.
  7. ↑ "It Was 10 Years Ago Today: 18 Reasons 1997 Might Be The Next 1967.". Retrieved 2010-10-21.
  8. ↑ "Pitchfork.tv Presents Documentary on Modest Mouse's The Lonesome Crowded West". Pitchforkmedia. 2012-06-18. Retrieved 2013-02-19.
  9. ↑ Sadler, Denham (November 18, 2012). "15 Years On: Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West". Tone Deaf (Melbourne, Australia). Retrieved December 2, 2015.
  10. ↑ Butler, Blake. "The Lonesome Crowded West – Modest Mouse". AllMusic. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  11. ↑ Hess, Christopher (April 3, 1998). "Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West (Up)". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  12. ↑ Roth, Jason (January 23, 1998). "Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West (Up)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  13. ↑ "The Lonesome Crowded West". NME. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  14. ↑ Spinelli, Adrian (November 11, 2014). "Modest Mouse: The Lonesome Crowded West Reissue Review". Paste. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  15. ↑ Howe, Brian (November 5, 2014). "Modest Mouse: This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About/The Lonesome Crowded West". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  16. ↑ Fine, Jason (February 5, 1998). "The Lonesome Crowded West". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  17. ↑ Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. p. 198. ISBN 0-743-20169-8.
  18. ↑ Cox, Ana Marie (February 1998). "Reviews". Spin 14 (2). Retrieved July 24, 2015.
  19. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Hockley-Smith, Sam (August 21, 2013). "AllMusic Overview". Stereogum. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
  20. 1 2 Butler, Blake. "AllMusic Overview". AllMusic. Retrieved May 4, 2016.
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