Mike Szlamowicz

"We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" appeals to all passengers on the boat

The cover art of Modest Mouse's fifth album is telling: a hot air balloon carrying an anchor. In forging their fifth full-length, Isaac Brock and company must have felt multiple weights hindering their musical ascent. Pulling them from all sides were their low-fi fans, craving a return to basement recordings, desolate lyrics and trademark jam sessions to close out tracks; radio listeners, expecting another "Float On" to lift their spirits from early spring doldrums; and Epic Records likely hoping for another well-received and popular album to follow up the band's 2004 breakthrough, Good News for People Who Love Bad News. None of these disparate factions will be completely thrilled with We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, the third major-label release of the Washington-born indie rock outfit.