Modest Mouse’s The Moon & Antarctica

In 1999, Modest Mouse struck out for Chicago to record their major-label debut for Epic Records. Amid indie circle cries of “sellouts,” a largely untested producer, and a half-built studio, the trio recorded the instrumental basics of The Moon & Antarctica … and then singer/songwriter Isaac Brock got his face smashed by a hooligan in a park.With barely any vocals recorded, Brock emerged from the hospital with his jaw completely wired shut, and returned to a mostly empty studio. And there, on a diet of painkillers, in a neighborhood that wanted to purge the band from its borders, a creative alchemy took place that would redefine Modest Mouse and indie rock at large.The fact that the band finished the album at all is surprising. The fact that it is now considered by critics as “hands-down one of the greatest records ever made” (NME) is perhaps an utter miracle.The Moon & Antarctica is an album so strange and enigmatic, from those sweet opening notes, to the plunging depths of the middle, to the shocking, furious end, that you almost hesitate to listen to it again for fear of it losing its chaotic magic. But then you do, and you discover all-new sounds—a lost harmonic here, a stray percussion element there, a fresh interpretation of a lyric that leaves you thunderstruck.And that ever-looming question, years on: How the hell did Modest Mouse pull this off?!

Zachary Petit is an independent journalist who has covered the arts, design, and history for a variety of outlets, including Fast Company, Smithsonian, Eye on Design, National Geographic properties and PRINT, where he served as editor-in-chief of the National Magazine Award–winning publication. This is his third book. For more, visit zacharypetit.com.