Modest Mouse/Photo: Henry Cromett
It’s a stacked bill built to honor every CD you ever burned. Modest Mouse is playing The Salt Shed with The Flaming Lips on August 16, halfway through their “The Good Times Are Killing Me” tour. The co-headlining tour was launched to celebrate twenty (now twenty-one) years since the release of “Good News For People Who Love Bad News” (2004), in which the title track of the tour was released. The Portland rockers have been making moves for almost two years in celebration of that anniversary, and deservedly so. “Good News For People Who Love Bad News” may be the most complete, emotionally intuitive indie record released in the last twenty-five years.
The LP boasts “Float On,” “The World At Large,” “Ocean Breathes Salty,” “Bukowski,” “The Good Times Are Killing Me” and “Dance Hall” within one body of work. I could reasonably have listed every track on the record, but restrained myself—the point being, it is a masterpiece that combines powerfully dark storytelling with acerbic literary wit. Packaged in an inventive, attractive, and at times maritime indie-rock soundscape that did actually feel form-breaking, I’d wager most Modest Mouse fans found the band through “Good News For People Who Love Bad News” before hungrily digging into the dirtier gold within “The Moon & Antarctica” (2000), “The Lonesome Crowded West” (1997) and “This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About” (1996).
So Isaac Brock and his band of hippie pirates have every right to stage a prolonged and multi-angled celebration of the record’s twentieth anniversary. In April 2024, they released an expanded LP of the original album, which includes eight new remixes of native tracks, the most interesting of which might be the John Congleton/Godbey remix of “Bukowski.” They’ve also launched Ice Cream Party, a super-fan membership community that costs $10 a month. Members get a very cool and exclusive T-shirt featuring a snail, presale tickets, early entry to venues, and access to unreleased songs. The name is cool and the T-shirt genuinely looks very hip, but it does feel a bit Patreon-y and maybe—hopefully—not the band’s idea. Again, they can do whatever they want as far as I’m concerned.
Modest Mouse/Photo: Henry Cromett
Also, bizarrely, American Express used “Float On” in an ad that aired in mid-2024, almost exactly twenty years from the release date of “Good News For People Who Love Bad News” on April 6, 2004. Perhaps a creative director at Dentsu in charge of the Amex account is a huge fan, maybe it was artistic providence, or an instance of absurd kismet. Newcity is not an ad review, but it feels worth mentioning—the ad is bad, but Brock and company deserve the cash.
What fans will no doubt be most excited about is the tour. Pairing up with a headliner who grew to prominence just as Modest Mouse was growing up feels fitting. Both The Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse will play complete sets at The Salt Shed, with Modest Mouse playing the first and The Flaming Lips playing the second. This may sound funky considering it’s a Modest Mouse tour, but it makes perfect sense: the cover of darkness better suits the electricity and light rigs of a Flaming Lips set, and, when playing outdoors, Modest Mouse music feels more connected and earthy in the sunshine.
The last time The Flaming Lips and Modest Mouse toured together was in 2002, and an occasion celebrating one of the best indie works this millennium deserves no less than such an esteemed co-headliner. The Modest Mouse setlist promises to feature every classic (likely every song) from “Good News For People Who Love Bad News” in addition to accompanying hits. Their latest show on July 6 in Jackson, Wyoming, featured a five-song encore, the specifics of which I’ll leave to you to discover naturally or nosily (I elected for the latter).
Modest Mouse plays The Salt Shed’s Fairgrounds, 1357 North Elston, with The Flaming Lips on August 16. Doors at 5pm; show at 6pm. Tickets are sold out, though they are currently available on resale sites. For more information, visit saltshedchicago.com.
