SnowGhost Music

Modest Mouse has a new album out. I know this, or at least I was reminded of it, when I saw it advertised along with a few other new releases in the New York Times. After finishing the Sunday crossword puzzle in 22 minutes (I was using my left hand), I perused the rest of the entertainment section and found said advert, from one of those places that sells everything that you can plug in or plug something into. This is certainly not how I would have found out about a new Modest Mouse album back in the college days. For that sort of info, I would've had to consult Ted, because Modest Mouse was only popular among people like Ted, people who could tell you more about a band than the people in the band. Ted and friends would continue to gather and expunge their encyclopedic knowledge, in the same eerie and utterly useless fashion as a sports fanatic, until the band bacame well known enough that regular people had heard of them, or god forbid, their music appeared on a commercial.

So after hearing one of their songs on a car commercial a few years ago, constantly hearing 'Float On' across the airwaves for at least 6 months straight, and seeing their latest release advertised alongside regular people music, I can now safely confirm that Modest Mouse is in fact popular. I'm sure Ted probably wept when he first heard their song in a Chrysler ad and deemed them sell-outs of the highest and most unforgivable order. But for every Ted who refused to buy their last two albums, there are at least 10 people who picked up either album and became legitimate and approving fans. Why, it would even appear that Modest Mouse might actually be MAKING SOME WELL DESRVED MONEY for their hard work.

Now I haven't actually heard either Modest Mouse's new one, or the Arcade Fire's, but as soon as I'm able to remove Band of Horses from my CD player (Ted was holding out on me on this one), I will get right on it. I've actually heard a little about how they sound, but I've heard a lot more about how awful it is that there will be so many more fans now, who aren't true fans because they didn't go to junior high with the bass player or see their first show on the East Coast after their first EP came out. Lots of selfish complaining, negative predictions, and threats of discontinued fandom. For all of you in your speeding wahmbulances on your way to St. Booboo's Hospital for babies, I offer you some sunshine:

1. There is nothing wrong with being popular. Just because you were not popular in high school or because someone who was popular might have been an asshole does not mean popularity is bad. Nor does being popular or well-known necesarrily mean that you are fucking anyone over. Hearing the Arcade Fire on non-college radio instead of anything else I've heard in the past few years would make me incredibly happy. I would rejoice in the fact that people in larger numbers were finally exhibiting evidence of actually having some taste. I guess I'll have to go to their next concert and deal with a slightly larger venue and a few more people to shoe gaze with, but I can feel revitalized knowing that I'm sharing genuinely great music with people other than Ted. And best of all, I know that the band we are all supporting can continue making music because they might actually be able to afford to do so.

2. Being popular is not selling out. Ted may never get over 'Shiney Happy People,' but the rest of us have moved on. R.E.M. probably has too. While 'Float On' may be an unusually upbeat song for Modest Mouse, it is by no means a departure. They've always had at least 5 or 6 songs on each album that could've been hits. And they always have tracks that are certainly nowhere near as accessible. Keep in mind that bands don't stay frozen in time. They mature. They get better, at least musically. And sometimes their sound evolves, making them either more or less popular. Even literally selling a song to an advertiser does not constitute a sell-out, unless of course that song was written specifically for the commercial. Writing the song for the next Bond movie is borderline. And by the way, are you selling out if you take a raise or a promotion?

3. Being popular does not signal the end of a band. As long as a band grows a fanbase with hardwork and good music, they will always have a place to play. Though it's hard to imagine, Nickelback might've even had some indie fans of some kind before they became the kings of shit rock, and they might even have some to fall back on when the majority of their fans either die from riding motorcycles without helmets or find an even worse band to crank from their Mustangs. But real bands like Modest Mouse will always have fans, even if they don't have ads in the Times, because they survived without airplay before, and they'll probably do it again. Yes, popularity brings about all sorts of money issues, label pressures, and standard setting. But why don't we just let the musicians worry about all that, and maybe we'll get our taxes done on time.

4. Bandwagons can be fun. There are bound to be jackasses aboard each and every bandwagon, but they are typically the last to get on and the first to fall off, and they are surprisingly easy to dismiss anyway. And believe it or not, nearly all of the songs you'll ever hear were not written for you, or anyone else on the bandwagon. Songs are meant to be shared, so it's okay if someone has a different reaction than you when they hear a certain song. You can actually discuss the similarities and differences right there in the bandwagon, and maybe even share a laugh when yet another jackass jumps off without a helmet.