Emily's Albums A to Z

Listened: Friday July 1

Even though The Lonesome Crowded West was the album that introduced me to Modest Mouse, This is a Long Drive also connects me to the past, but I didn’t realize it until recently.

I owned This is a Long Drive for completeness’ sake, but I hadn’t listened to it much until a couple of years ago when I was ripping a lot of my collection to my work computer. I suddenly realized what a soundtrack of my friendship with Audrey it was. Over a winter break in college, we drove to Crestline and Torrence and back north again listening to many songs from this album. Back then, she fell much harder for MM than I did, and now I understand why, having finally got a clue how amazing they are, especially the early stuff. I’m so glad now that they were the background music to our youth, even if I didn’t appreciate it then.

I’ve righteously sung the bitter lyrics to Custom Concern many times at my now ex-job – “Gotta go to work, gotta go to work, gotta have a job.” Yet another memory this album will remind me of in future years.