In 1994, they made their first EP with Calvin Johnson in Olympia for his twee-punk label K Records, as well as a single for Seattle's Sub Pop. Modest Mouse quickly found purchase in the Pacific Northwest scene. Formed by singer and guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green, and bassist Eric Judy in the Washington suburb of Issaquah, they had a kind of insular, visionary oddness. Weird bands from nowhere places strained their quirks through a punk filter, and their styles were narrower but, perhaps, deeper than those of their polyglot descendants. The Modest Mouse of the '90s had also been very much of its time, when indie rock was less of a popular genre than a refuge from them. This commercial openness was quite a shift for a band defined by a sense of isolation in its own secret world. Moon, though clearly a classic now, caused debates over whether Modest Mouse had "sold out," something people still earnestly fretted about as the Internet was upsetting old hierarchies. Morbid lyrics and backmasked guitars notwithstanding, "Gravity Rides Everything" was catchy enough to sell Nissan Quest minivans. The record also let in influences that were not yet entirely indie-approved, such as dance music on "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes". The Moon and Antarctica from 2000 clothed their decrepit strains in major label finery and production by someone outside of their local bubble, Califone's Brian Deck. The Modest Mouse of the 2000s was very of its time, when indie rock was turning more porous and mainstream.
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