Sad Sappy Sucker [ORIGINAL RECORDING REISSUED]

Modest Mouse

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 24, 2001)
• Original Release Date: April 24, 2001
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording reissued
• Label: K. Records
• ASIN: B00005AU9N
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #53,858 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
After stepping up to the major-label plate with The Moon and Antarctica, Modest Mouse reach back to their roots with Sad Sappy Sucker. Sucker is actually the band's first recording, released in 2001 but created back in 1994. It was shelved in favor of Lonesome Crowded West as their debut, but Sucker is still a fine piece of the Modest Mouse lineage.

Although parts of Sucker are experimental compared to the band's current polish, this isn't some rarity to be enjoyed only by collectors. Breezy melodies build into jagged choruses as singer Isaac Brock shows he can be both tender and playfully aggressive. Most of the songs clock in between two and three minutes, leaving room for numerous gems in the course of the 24-track album. While 12 of the songs come from a recording session with K Records' Calvin Johnson, a chunk of Sucker material comes from Brock's "Dial-a-Song" phase, during which callers heard new songs by dialing into his answering machine. These experiments range from lo-fi combos of distorted instruments and whiny vocals to complete songs, like the bluesy rock jam on "Secret Agent X-9." The Dial-a-Songs--and a message left by Murder City Devils front man Spencer Moody ("Call to Dial-a-Song")--are both comic relief and proof that Modest Mouse didn't gain their indie-rock cult status by accident. The talent's been there from the beginning. --Jennifer Maerz

Product Description
K Records proudly unveils an important document detailing the early days of Modest Mouse. Recorded in 1994, 'Sad Sappy Sucker' is the lost Modest Mouse album, originally intended oto be the band's debut full length. 'Sad Sappy Sucker' has 24 tracks and are the earliset recordings from Modern Mouse. 2001 release. 23 tracks!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and enjoyable, April 26, 2001

By	Kevin Mulcahy "smartwentcrazy0" (east lansing) - See all my reviews

One word I would NOT use to describe this release is "brilliant." It's scattered, underdeveloped, and sometimes grating. Having said that, if you are a big fan of Modest Mouse, this is an absolute must-have (unless, of course, you are a REALLY big fan, and you already have all these songs on all the damn 7-inches). Sad Sappy Sucker shows a side of Modest Mouse that they haven't shown fans on any of their other releases. I'd always heard comparisons to Pavement and Built to Spill, and here and there I could pick something out in their music that resembled these bands, but this release shows exactly how much Modest Mouse developed into their own sound from a very derivative beginning. First of all, Sad Sappy Sucker contains only two songs over 3 minutes long, and none that hit the 3:10 mark; hearing such short songs coming from MM is extremely odd, and probably one of the reasons this release is so interesting for me. The songs were recorded in 1994-95, and sound heavily influenced by Pavement's Slanted and Enchanted and Built to Spill's There's Nothing Wrong with Love. They have all the raw charm, energy, and weirdness of songs on those albums, stamped with just enough of Isaac Brock's own flavor (and he had plenty of it, even at this young age) to make them new. Unfortunately, the majority of the songs don't have the yearning and desperation of Pavement or the beauty and fragility of Built to Spill to make Sad Sappy Sucker a true classic; so only four stars. I will reiterate that this album is one that will probably only appeal to big fans, and is definitely NOT a starting-out point.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars New "old" songs, May 7, 2001

By	gtigrl "gtigrl" (New York) - See all my reviews

Read the 11 reviews before mine and you see people have mixed feelings about Sad Sappy Sucker by Modest Mouse. There are a few good songs on this release, but all in all, the songs are short, undeveloped blasts of randomness. I'm not saying you shouldn't add Sad Sappy Sucker to your collection, but new Modest Mouse listeners beware...you'd be better off going with This Is A Long Drive or any of the others. Long time fans should be happy to have the additional songs, although most have been available on 7"s and on the web for a while.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worthy of Release, May 3, 2001

By	Andrew "deadinmarin" - See all my reviews

Screaming for the hell of it, the offbeat crashing cymbals, and rusty sounding guitars. Hmmm... It sounds like some amateur indie rock band. Modest Mouse are certainly not some amateur indie rock band, but they sure as hell were back in 1994. Sad Sappy sucker is an album by a bunch of kids with ADD playing in some shack and wailing away on their instruments. Playing 30 second blurbs and saying "Wow, that was kind of neat, Let's put that on the album". This was an album that modest mouse did not want to release until now. Why did they decide to release it now instead of back in 94? I think they just wanted to put it out and see what happens to it. If a hundred people out of 40,000 like it, that means a hundred people like the album. Sad Sappy Sucker is by no means the band's best effort, but it is a fun collection of songs by a young band with a temendous amount of promise.