Heath Ledger-directed Modest Mouse vid takes on whale hunters

As we mentioned in our early review (available here) of Modest Mouse’s new EP No One’s First and You’re Next, the public’s access to the music video for “King Rat” had been delayed for several months.











The video, directed by Heath Ledger, appeared on MySpace. The late actor, who originally pitched the storyline to Isaac Brock, failed to complete the animated project before his January 2008 death. His partners at the film company The Masses took over for him. After much speculation, the video has finally been released. Check it out (above). It's certainly an exercise in morbidity and demonstrative rhetoric. He didn't squander what would be one of his last avenues for communicating his beliefs.

Rolling Stone notes: "With the clip, Ledger was hoping to bring awareness to the illegal commercial whale hunts taking place off the shores of Australia by reversing the roles of the parties involved, and the imagery of the video does a superior job of translating Ledger’s message."

Early Review: Modest Mouse EP, No One’s First and You’re Next

The eight-track EP due out August 4 comes as an agglomeration of the B-sides and unreleased outtakes from the band’s last two full-length albums, We Were Dead Before the Ship Sank and Good News for People Who Love Bad News.
The EP’s substantive 33 minutes isn’t merely composed of filler tracks that spilled over from the last two LP efforts but instead tracks that hold their own without overreliance on radio-friendly hooks. Vocalist Isaac Brock’s spilling of the beans about the mini-album nearly two years early in a Rolling Stone interview did not quell the anticipation built up by its tight-knit contingent of fans.
“Autumn Beds” is a relatively softer, gentler track. “Perpetual Motion Machine” and “Satellite Skin” are pretty standard stuff.
The ethereal video for “Satellite Skin” reminded me of the Where the Wild Things Are trailer crossed with a crazy-ass dream Guillermo Del Toro had last night.

Promises have been made that the music video for “King Rat,” a We Were Dead Before the Ship Sank bonus track, directed by the late Heath Ledger in 2007 – with possible animation by Terry Gilliam – will sometime soon see the light of day. Modest Mouse hinted to its release in the near future.

Track listing:
1. Satellite Skin
2. Guilty Cocker Spaniels
3. Autumn Beds
4. The Whale Song
5. Perpetual Motion Machine
6. History Sticks To Your Feet
7. King Rat
8. I've Got It All (Most)

The late summer tour, kicking off in Halifax, Nova Scotia August 17, will head over to Ohio, California and Oregon, among other states, for the following month. Guitarist Johnny Marr’s a new member of the English indie rock band The Cribs, which has an album due out in September. Ergo, Jim Fairchild of Grandaddy is subbing in on Modest Mouse tour in the interim.
Tour info here: http://www.modestmouse.com/photoblog/tours/

No One's First and You're Next
HIPNESS RATING: 7 out of 10
ACTUAL RATING: 6 out of 10