Show Review: Modest Mouse Brings Us Back to 2004 With 20th Anniversary of ‘Good News For People Who Love Bad News’

The quirky, chaotic chorus of Modest Mouse’s “Float On” rattled the bat-rich roof of the Salt Shed in Chicago this past Thursday. The crowd of mostly millennials belted out every word with the strength and certainty of someone who’s been through so much shit and made it out on the other side. as if its lyrics are embodied in our very souls.

For many of us, it’s our anthem, our battle cry, our credo. It’s powered us through two decades of the push-and-pull between hope and hell. With its looping guitar hook, weightless rhythm, and authentic lyrics, the song acts like an old friend with good advice—keep calm and carry on.

Now, here we are, on the other side of 20 years, better at floating, singing together with certainty and strength.

And the show just started.

It’s the 20th Anniversary of Good News For People Who Love Bad News, the album that seemingly kicked indie music into the mainstream. Full of chaotic, poetic, and dancey hits like “The World at Large,” “Ocean Breathes Salty,” “Bury Me With It,” and, of course, “Float On,” the album seemed to encapsulate the duality of life developing at the turn of the millennia. It’s a decade-defining classic that dances between the contradictions of existential dread and comfort. Usually found at the top of most millennials’ CD wallets next to The Shins and The Flaming Lips.

And now, we get a chance to feel the undeniable energy of the entire album live again, or for the first time.

The vibe took a visible shift once the banjo hook for “Bukowski” sauntered into the rafters. The dance was over, and it was time to get deep, drowsy, and drunk. This confrontational ode to questioning the decadence of existence ripples through the crowd like a melancholic wave of whimsical bitterness. Many went to the bar to grab another drink; others hung their heads down, mouthing the words in a hypnotic trance. It sounds horrific, but it was beautiful, like a night of breaking bottles with your best friends in a Kohl’s parking lot. There was a rebellious and youthful introspection among us.

Shortly, the dance is back on and weirder than before as Modest Mouse moves through the poppier portion of the album with “This Devil’s Workday,” “The View,” and “Satin In a Coffin.” But a softness overtook the crowd once Brock Issac pulled us back down with the first guitar riff for “Blame It On the Tetons.”

The show ended on a hopeful note, quite literally, in “The Good Times Are Killing Me,” where Issac Brock sends us off with the iconic breezy guitar and synths supporting the line, “Got dirt, got air, got water, and I know you can carry on.”

Overall, and as expected, Modest Mouse put on an electric, chaotically beautiful performance that’s fitting for such an amazing venue like The Salt Shed in Chicago. Do yourself a favor and catch them before their tour ends later this month.