No One's First, and You're Next is an EP by American indie rock band Modest Mouse, released on August 4, 2009. It features unreleased tracks and B-sides from the band's previous two studio albums, Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004) and We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007). The collection of repolished outtakes was first mentioned in February 2008 when Rolling Stone conducted a short interview with frontman Isaac Brock in their "Smoking Section" column;[12] however, no other news regarding its release surfaced until an entire year later.
| No One's First, and You're Next | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| EP by | ||||
| Released | August 4, 2009 | |||
| Recorded | 2003–2006 | |||
| Genre | Indie rock, alternative rock, folk rock, indie folk, post-punk revival, alternative country | |||
| Length | 33:33 | |||
| Label | Epic | |||
| Modest Mouse chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Singles from No One's First, and You're Next | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | (75/100)[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |    [2] |
| The A.V. Club | B+[11] |
| Chicago Tribune | [3] |
| Entertainment Weekly | B[4] |
| NME | (6/10)[5] |
| No Ripcord |   [6] |
| Now | [7] |
| Pitchfork Media | (7.2/10)[8] |
| Planet Sound | (8/10)[10] |
| PopMatters | [9] |
The vinyl version was released on August 14, 2009.
Promotion
editSingles
editThree sets of 7" vinyl singles preceded the EP's release. The first single, "Satellite Skin / Guilty Cocker Spaniels", was planned to be released on April 18 in celebration of Record Store Day,[13] but was pushed back to May 26 because Isaac Brock didn't like the color of the vinyl, as it wasn't the right shade of orange. The record seemed to have difficulty playing on many people's record players and the seller would not take them back, causing annoyance among Modest Mouse fans.[14]
Music videos
editKevin Willis, who previously contributed artwork to drummer Jeremiah Green's side project Vells, directed the video for "Satellite Skin".[15] Before his death in January 2008, Heath Ledger had started working on a music video for "King Rat". Unfinished when he died, the video was completed by co-director Daniel Auber and others. It was released on August 4, 2009, the same day that the EP was released. Later that year, Bent Image Lab director Nando Costa created a video for "The Whale Song", utilizing stop-motion animation.[16]
Track listing
editAll lyrics are written by Isaac Brock; all music is composed by Modest Mouse
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Satellite Skin" (released as an A-side) | 3:58 |
| 2. | "Guilty Cocker Spaniels" (released as a B-side to "Satellite Skin") | 3:59 |
| 3. | "Autumn Beds" (released as an A-side) | 3:42 |
| 4. | "The Whale Song" (released as a B-side to "Autumn Beds") | 6:07 |
| 5. | "Perpetual Motion Machine" (released as an A-side) | 3:11 |
| 6. | "History Sticks to Your Feet" (released as a B-side to "Perpetual Motion Machine") | 3:55 |
| 7. | "King Rat" (released as a promotional single and as the B-side to "Dashboard") | 5:30 |
| 8. | "I've Got It All (Most)" (released as the B-side to "Float On") | 3:10 |
Charts
edit| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[17] | 91 |
| Canadian Albums (Billboard)[18] | 14 |
| US Billboard 200[19] | 15 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[20] | 3 |
References
edit- ^ Critic reviews at Metacritic
- ^ AllMusic review
- ^ Chicago Tribune review
- ^ Entertainment Weekly review
- ^ NME review
- ^ No Ripcord review
- ^ Now review
- ^ Pitchfork Media review
- ^ PopMatters review
- ^ Earls, John. "Modest Mouse: No One's First, and You're Next". Teletext. Retrieved August 16, 2009.[dead link]
- ^ The A.V. Club review
- ^ Dave Maher (2008-02-05). "Modest Mouse Working on New EP". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ Ryan Dombal (2009-03-12). "Heath Ledger Directed a Modest Mouse Video". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ "Maybe he wanted it to be a shade of "Portland Orange"". interstate-8.com. 2009-04-21. Retrieved 2009-05-23.
- ^ William Goodman (2009-03-13). "Modest Mouse to Release Heath Ledger Video". Spin. Retrieved 2009-08-05.
- ^ "Modest Mouse: 'The Whale Song' (Video) | Prefix". Prefixmag.com. 2009-10-08. Retrieved 2012-03-03.
- ^ Ryan, Gavin (2011). Australia's Music Charts 1988–2010 (PDF ed.). Mt Martha, Victoria, Australia: Moonlight Publishing. p. 192.
- ^ "Modest Mouse Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
- ^ "Modest Mouse Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
- ^ "Modest Mouse Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 29, 2022.
