#1 'Float On' by Modest Mouse

(Download 'Float On' (live) by right clicking).

How could #1 be anything else?

Went to Coachella at the end of April, my first big post-Crushed journey, and a huge needed dose of sunshine. Met Orange and Glen and Tess and Michelle and Singletrack and Alex and new 'Big Sis' Roxanne. Got a little out of control there (really? naw. not you.) and Rox helped me through and through. The anecdote of the time was that she both 'helped me through shit while giving me shit.'

She, ahem, rocks. ¹

Post-Coachella, rented a car. And thanks to the post-Coachella hungover/heatstroke legions neglecting to turn their econocars in on time, the vehicle turned out to be a fancy Volvo with an amazing sound system. Drove back to LA and hung with John Davis and Chris at there fantastic downtown LA loft. Great space. Great neighborhood. Explored LA and found out I really dug it. Interviewed at Chiat with Eric Grunbaum and talked for an hour with Rob Siltaanen at his shop.

Good times, built the confidence, tonic for the soul, just a little.

On the way out to my friend Randy and Meredith's desert party, I had to buy a bunch of CDs to play in the Volvo, because I never learn that whatever car I rent won't come with any of my cds unless I bring them.

It was about a two hour ride, across the Mojave desert, and then XXX mexicans XXX across an arroyo censored censored censored into a beautiful valley.

On the way out, I popped in the newly bought, just out Modest Mouse cd. I wasn't too into them in the past, but Proctor loved them and the cd got good reviews, so I bought it. What the hell.

Press Play. Track 1: Horn intro. 27 seconds. Right.Track 2: Isaac: "Ice age, heat wave, can't complain..." Cool. Track 3: HOLY FUCKING SHIT! HOT! YEAH! YEAH! YEAH! Track 3: WHOOOOOOOOOOH! ROCK ON! FLOAT ON! FLOAT ON! ALRIGHT! Track 3: (getting some of they lyrics) BACKED MY CAR INTO COP CAR - HE JUST DROVE OFF SOMETIMES LIFE'S OK! YEAH! HOLY SHIT YEAH! YEAH! FUCK YEAH! ALRIGHT! OK! FLOAT ON!

Repeat Ad Serotonin.

It was just the right song at just the right moment. A slacker anthem. A song for the ne'er-do-wells, the hapless, the hopeless, the good souls in need of a little bit of redemption. ²

In other words, at that point, me.

In my post-Crushed state, unsure if I could ever find any meaningful, or meaningless happiness, unsure if I would deserve it even if I found it, it gave me comfort in the night, some time in the sunshine.

"Even if things end up a bit too heavy we'll all float on, we'll all float on, alright."

Amen, brother.

I think I played the track about 80 times on the way out to the desert. About 40 times on the way back. 30 times at Dave's birthday beach bash. (Side note: apologized to Anne at Bink's over Thanksgiving. She just laughed.) Conservatively, I'd guess over 600 time this year.

I mean could the song of the year *be* anything else?

There's a link below where you could download this track, but really go to iTunes and spend the 99c, for fuck's sake. It's worth it, and Modest Mouse is a NW band, and they had Dave Emmitte do some of the cover photography. So, do the right thing. Buy now. Operators are standing by.

Additional thought, 12 hours after the original post: the great thing about this song is that it won't be tied to anything but a glorious ride out to a party, soaking up the sunshine, driving off-road to good friends. No emotional highjacking. No cries in the night, just joy at being who I am and the faith that everything will be alright. ³


The Big Ticket: bad news comes don't you worry: "On January 29 of this past year, Sean Michaels (ed: not the wrestler) first posted this track on said the gramophone, and he had this to say about it at the time:

Forget the day-by-day schedule, I just heard this track and can't keep it to myself - Modest Mouse's 'Float On.' The new single from their upcoming album, and the best thing they've ever done, it seems to me. The guitars and drums jangle and flip in the background, happy to float on, with Isaac Brock squawking and rhyming in the front. It's like an amazing bird party that humans are never invited to, where there are strange bird drinks and strange bird rock'n'roll dances. And a river. And love. But you MUST TURN IT UP LOUD SO THE DRUMS AND BASS MAKE YOU CRAZY. holymoly! dan!!"


againagain footnote - 1 - in the WongDoody LA trip, she and I were with another friend who had recently stopped drinking. Roxanne, who happens to not hold anything back, asked her why. Then paused, pointed at me and asked, "Is it because when you drink you hook up with him?"

againagain footnote - 2 - (But then, also buried in the background, like the voices of self-doubt and self-destruction I hear anytime I do something good or worthy, you can hear Isaac's screaming lyrics that can't be discerned but can be felt.)

againagain footnote - 3 - potentially the title of my first short story collection.