January 19th, 2015 
Tyler Hanan 
On the eve of No Cities To Love‘s much-lauded release, Modest Mouse has taken another step toward ending an album dry spell less than two years shorter than Sleater-Kinney’s own. The second single off new full-length Strangers To Ourselves – as melancholy a song as you’d expect on an album with that title – has debuted.
Premiering on Interstate-8 earlier today, “Coyotes” is just a bit reminiscent of Isaac Brock’s Ugly Casanova work, only less weird and with more harmonies. Or perhaps that it sounds less like a We Were Dead b-side than “Lampshades on Fire” – I haven’t decided yet. It’s prettily, morosely affecting in a way that I’m not sure the band has hit since Moon & Antarctica.
That’s a lot of compare/contrast jargon that I’m not always a big fan of, but this single is one that, despite its gloom, stokes excitement in a way “Lampshades” never could. “Lampshades” did that merely by existing; “Coyotes” does so by being a song worthy of shaking the dust off for.
The video features a lonely coyote on a light rail train, something that actually happened in Portland and inspired this song. It also inspired a Sleater-Kinney song (per Pitchfork), which I did not know until after I led with S-K above. Life is fun like that.
Strangers To Ourselves is out March 3 via Epic. Pre-order today and you’ll get the “Lampshades on Fire”/”Coyotes” 7-inch. “Coyotes” will be available for digital purchase tomorrow. Watch the video over on Interstate-8 until its release tomorrow.
- MOVIE REVIEW: ‘Animated Short Films’ is the Oscars’ most low-key stacked category - February 26, 2016
- Speedy Ortiz Announce New Album ‘Foil Deer,’ Share Accompanying Comic - February 3, 2015
- Today, In Modest Mouse News: New Song, New Release Date, Tracklist Reveal - February 3, 2015
Posted in 
Tags: 