Bands who's popularity/sales are much higher than you would expect (and other bands who are in the same vein and not doing as well for reasons you can't explain)

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I'm still surprised that Modest Mouse is, of all the American indie rock bands, doing relatively the best. They get Tom Waits-y and weird pretty often, and although Float On is kind-of straight forward... it isn't really. And the lyrics although sometimes emo, never Jimmy Eat World style emo, and often times just completely absurdist.

It seems to me a band like Built To Spill would probably have a much better time being successful. Same idea sort of, but just much more accessable, to my ears at least.

― David Allen (David Allen), Sunday, 30 May 2004 23:00 (twenty-two years ago)

you forgot one small thing:

built to spill -> k records
modest mouse - -> sony records

― mark p (Mark P), Sunday, 30 May 2004 23:04 (twenty-two years ago)

modest mouse almost cracked the top 100 in australia this week

― the surface noise made by people (electricsound), Sunday, 30 May 2004 23:07 (twenty-two years ago)

the continued success of the Coral and total lack of success of Shack is somewhat of a head-scratcher for me, but i figure it must have something to do with people being cloth-eared fuckwits

― the surface noise made by people (electricsound), Sunday, 30 May 2004 23:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Due to not being sufficiently familiar with my Matador comp, I've spent the last few weeks thinking Modest Mouse sounded like Bardo Pond. You can imagine how surprised I was at their chart success.

― noodle vague (noodle vague), Sunday, 30 May 2004 23:10 (twenty-two years ago)

Built To Spill have been on Warner Bros. since 1997.

"Float On" TOTALLY makes sense as a hit single to me. It's danceable, has a great hook, feel-good lyrics that don't sound overly schmaltzy. Their sound is similar to the Talking Heads and Pixies, both bands with strong fan bases these days. Built To Spill never aggressively pushed a single, never made a video as fascinating as "Float On." Plus the market for indie sounding fluke hits is a lot stronger than when Built To Spill made "Center Of The Universe," which was probably the closest they got to a song that could have been a major label hit.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 30 May 2004 23:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Actually the first time I heard "Float On" (off of a CD-R at a party from somebody who got it on soulseek) I couldn't believe they were putting out something so accessible and appealing. I doubt any follow-up singles will take off (the Yeah Yeah Yeahs at least have "Y Control" waiting in the wings) but I can't think of the last time a minor-to-major vet band has put out a song that both maintains its sound and makes it into a worthy pop hit.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 30 May 2004 23:21 (twenty-two years ago)

i was surprised that of all their catalogue, yo la tengo's biggest hit was 'nuclear war', entertaining but completely tuneless

― the surface noise made by people (electricsound), Sunday, 30 May 2004 23:23 (twenty-two years ago)

no way has Nuclear War sold more copies than individual albums. It might be their highest selling single, but that's probably cuz its the only stand alone one they've done since like 1993.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 30 May 2004 23:26 (twenty-two years ago)

I mean Legal Man isn't Belle & Sebastian's highest-selling single in the US because its their most popular track. It was a stand alone released at a high in their fame.

― Anthony Miccio (Anthony Miccio), Sunday, 30 May 2004 23:27 (twenty-two years ago)

well 'highest chart placing' rather than most successful..

― the surface noise made by people (electricsound), Sunday, 30 May 2004 23:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Modest Mouse always sound to me like Pixies crossed with Mercury Rev. But in a bad way. But I have rubbish ears. Almost everyone I like doesn't do well enough, and everyone I hate is too successful. Very odd..

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Sunday, 30 May 2004 23:43 (twenty-two years ago)

Built to Spill are like Spoon - their period on a major label was years too early for them to take advantage of it in the modern hit parade.

More popular than they should be: Bright Eyes. "Lifted..." went gold in the USA (500,000 copies?). That's 500,000 people who let what my grandmother might term "caterwauling" into their homes.

Less popular than you might expect: Joy Zipper. That's a good band, good producers, good songs, sell bugger all of anything.

― John Allison (John Allison), Monday, 31 May 2004 17:34 (twenty-two years ago)

Built to Spill's beards are too bushy and their heads are too bald for them to become popular.

― Mike Ouderkirk (Mike Ouderkirk), Monday, 31 May 2004 21:05 (twenty-two years ago)

Modest Mouse was indeed the first band I thought of when seeing the thread title. I'm still a little baffled at how they've become so popular. A friend of mine who I sometimes joke gets his music recommendations from Entertainment Weekly just picked up the new one, along with the reissue of The Moon and Antarctica, although he won't agree with me that Antarctica is far superior. (I think this is partially what's weird about their newfound success: Moon and Antarctica was on Epic, too -- and it's a better album! So why now??)

― jaymc (jaymc), Tuesday, 1 June 2004 04:21 (twenty-two years ago)

Why now? "Building an audience" used to happen all the time in the olden days. It only surprises us now because Modest Mouse-type bands are usually off a major label's roster after one album if they don't muster a crossover hit.

― John Allison (John Allison), Tuesday, 1 June 2004 08:01 (twenty-two years ago)

I read in Rolling Stone that whoever the new dude at Sony decided he'd like to throw some promotional weight behind Modest Mouse. That + the following they've built up + a single capable of being a hit single = Why now.

I'd compare it to REM, maybe. I don't know. TS: Shiny Happy People or Float On?

― christhamrin (christhamrin), Tuesday, 1 June 2004 08:48 (twenty-two years ago)

the surface noise made by people is OTM. I like the Coral okay, but why hasn't Shack taken off??? *HMS Fable* is an absolute classic and *Here's Tom* is solid. Where are the fans??

― JC-L (JC-L), Tuesday, 1 June 2004 14:19 (twenty-two years ago)

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