Album: Sharpen Your Teeth Release Date: 5/21/2002 Length: 50:23 Label: Sub Pop Rating: 6.0 |
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| Track Listing | |
1. Barnacles (5:05)  |
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| 2. Spilled Milk Factory (4:26) | |
3. Parasites (3:36)  |
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| 4. Hotcha Girls (4:48) | |
| 5. No Song (0:25) | |
| 6. Diamonds in the Face of Evil (3:15) | |
| 7. Cat Faces (3:36) | |
| 8. Ice on the Sheets (6:33) | |
| 9. Bee Sting (0:45) |
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| 10. Pacifico (2:31) | |
| 11. Smoke Like Ribbons (5:15) | |
| 12. Things I Don't Remember (3:29) |
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| 13. So Long to the Holidays (5:56) | |
| Review | |
| Something about angry rednecks gets my blood flowing. The anger and passion filled in Isaac Brock’s southern drawl is what first drew me to the loud sound of Modest Mouse. Similarly, when I heard that Brock was doing a little solo side project in his spare time under the alias Ugly Casanova, I was at once intrigued. Does his solo project live up to his band’s legacy? Yes and no. | |
| Brock’s Modest Mouse offerings come at you full speed ahead. They alternate from containing quiet lyrical whispers to loud, bleating decrees of anger. Things on the solo front are slightly different. Brock’s solo band has more of a downtrodden sound, like they’re laboring through their music, not happy to be here, but happy to play a tune for you. This is classic barroom rock, right here. Barroom rock is the phrase I've coined to describe hillbilly indie rock like Modest Mouse and Ugly Casanova. It has a dirty sound that wouldn't be fit for mass consumption, but the depressing alcohol-influenced nature of Casanova seems to lend the idea of a dark barroom terrificly to the music. | |
| Also absent from this CD are the usual Modest Mouse ponderings about space, time, and everything in between. Brock keeps the messages clear and simple this time around. There are songs about love, songs about life, and then there’s some weird shit in between for no apparent reason. | |
| That inconsistent nature of the disc is probably it’s most frustrating aspect. There are some truly great songs here, stuff that’d never be on a Modest Mouse record, like "Hotcha Girls." Its slow, sexy pace results in one of the best ‘alternative-country’ songs I’ve ever heard. Tracks like "Hotcha" are mixed in with more Modest Mouse-sounding songs such as "Things I Don’t Remember" whose thumping drums and hypnotic lyrics could appear on any number of Mouse records. | |
| Packed in with these tracks are unfortunate accidents such as "No Song" and "Bee Sting" which are both so short and bizarre that one can’t help but wonder why they weren’t left on the editing room floor. Similarly, the odd lyrics and bizarre pace of "Parasites" also make it a frustrating listen. | |
| Having said all that, as far as solo efforts go, Isaac’s certainly stands up when compared to the other indie artists who have released solo albums in the past few years, such as Paul Westerberg, formerly of The Replacements, and Stephen Malkmus, formerly of Pavement. Oh, and it beats the hell out of ex-Pavementer Scott Kannberg’s ill-fated solo debut as The Preston School Of Industry. | |
| This disc won’t exactly make you forget Modest Mouse, but it does provide a nice stop-gap between the brilliant Moon & Antarctica and the next Mouse record, whenever that may be. And who doesn’t need to listen to lyrics like "Things I don’t remember / There was dressed-up alligators / There was cum on the piano / Disco dancing neighbors / Who were born in mashed potatoes / Caught with my pants down / Hidin' in the dog house." | |
| Should you buy this album? Unless you’re a hardcore Modest Mouse fan, it’s probably something you could pass over. Overall though, it’s a strong effort that proves Brock is as good away from his band as he is in it. Something that not many can say in the world of music. | |
| Rating: 6.0 | |
| - Dan Kricke |
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