Whenever I listen to the last part of Modest Mouse’s “Teeth Like God’s Shoeshine,” I lose my shit. Seriously, I can’t help it. I just want to rip stuff up. In the most mild of cases, I walk around my house and yell the lyrics like there’s no tomorrow. I even air guitar, for Pete’s sake. Then, when the last octave chord fades, my mind gets back into civilized mode and wanders off onto everyday stuff. Last time this happened, it made me think about something specific: “Will I ever get old and stop climbing over chairs, screaming and grinning like an idiot whenever I listen to this song?”
When I was in 6th grade and couldn’t find enough fast and heavy music to quench my thirst, I wondered if I would ever stop listening to music that was loud and difficult. Many years afterwards, I have grown to listen to heavier and more difficult music than what I used to like in my youth. And yes, I have grown to like more subtle stuff, too. Still, I wonder if it’ll ever stop getting this excited about music.
Modest Mouse themselves have gone through a transition. They’re no longer the band that screamed and made natural harmonics fly off with whammy bar drops. They have since grown more tuneful and a bit more mellow; yet, they retain a spark that touches on the sensible part of my nerves, emotional music without being overly dramatic. Their sound has changed, but that part — the core of what makes them incredible — not only remains, but has also grown to cover more ground. And yes, they still blow the dust off “Doing the Cockroach” to flay around in concert.
As for me? I hope I never stop feeling the way I do about music.
