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March 28, 2007

Like R.E.M. in 1989…

I love Coolfer’s chart recaps. The new Modest Mouse album debuted at #1 on the Billboard album charts. That’s…crazy. I remember one of my college friends had a cassette tape with one side simply labeled “Modest Mouse” in pencil, something like ten years ago. Bizarre.

There’s also a mention of the latest Silversun Pickups record selling big on the West coast. That’s no surprise — they tour their asses off. I think they were here in Seattle three or four times last year, and live on KEXP many times (and they’ve got a great band name, IMO). It reinforces an opinion I’ve held for awhile now, that while technology has been great for “leveling the playing field*” for unsigned and independent acts, it’s still really, really hard to move records and win support if you’re not playing.

* a phrase I’ve come to despise, but that’s another post.

2 Comments on “Like R.E.M. in 1989…”

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And Michael did speak thusly:

Yes, there is no better ’street cred’ than pounding them streets. Listening to many supergroups’ first albums/live recordings and they’re not that impressive. But throw a couple hundred live shows per year for a few years and you’ll have a fine tuned band.
You reap what you sow.
And You Just Can’t Beat These Kids by spinme.com did speak thusly:

[...] that audience could take years, but it does happen. Just look at what’s going on with Modest Mouse and Silversun Pickups. Would a major label have taken a chance on Modest Mouse five years ago? No way. But when [...]