Unlike the sweetly minimal, "World At Large," or radio-ready, pop-jem, "Float On", Modest Mouse live at the Hollywood Palladium (2/24/09) was more like swallowing a seizure that boot-kicked from the inside on the way down your neck.

Muddy guitars and buzzy droning set the table for a tasty feast of vocals that alternated between savory and surly, while trumpets and twirling spotlights added texture to the already dense rock layers. Loud, like a bass drum trapped in a train case, there was a undeniable feeling that secretly these men wanted to be playing speed metal.

Indie rockers since the way-back 90s, Modest Mouse went from college-radio obscurity to college-radio mainstream in just under ten years with the 2004 release of Good News For People Who Love Bad News (Epic). The Washington ensemble became poster children for indie rock, and a gateway band for committed beginners.

As a result, Tuesday night's capacity crowd could have easily been there to see Rusted Root had they been Greek-system, musical bandwagoners 15 years earlier. This generation's collegiate trending has traded fleece for flannel, jam for drone and overall the girls have MUCH better hair. Still, friends don't let friends hacky sack.
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