This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About

This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About is the debut studio album by American rock band Modest Mouse. It was released on April 16, 1996, through Up Records.

Musical style

This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About is an indie rock album that incorporates elements of punk rock, grunge, heavy metal, twee pop, surf rock, jazz, and chamber music. Ryan Schreiber of Pitchfork remarked that Modest Mouse show influence from Pixies and Jane's Addiction. with certain elements on the album also drawing comparisons to Built to Spill and Pink Floyd.

Lyrically, many of the album's tracks focus on traveling by automobile and the loneliness associated with rural life.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Christgau's Consumer Guide	A−
Pitchfork	6.8/10 (1996) 8.5/10 (2014)
The Rolling Stone Album Guide

The Albuquerque Tribune called the album "intricate, brainy pop sneaking back into old-time ballads, honky-tonk slide and folk pluck." Robert Christgau remarked that Modest Mouse are "so insularly indie they're incomprehensible to anyone who hasn't been softened up by Wowee Zowee and the Meat Puppets".

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Isaac Brock; all music is composed by Modest Mouse

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Dramamine"	5:42
2.	"Breakthrough"	4:06
3.	"Custom Concern"	4:28
4.	"Might"	1:30
5.	"Lounge"	6:34
6.	"Beach Side Property"	7:00
7.	"Ionizes & Atomizes"	4:21
8.	"Head South"	4:22
9.	"Dog Paddle"	2:02
10.	"Novocain Stain"	3:42
11.	"Tundra/Desert"	5:24
12.	"Ohio"	6:00
13.	"Exit Does Not Exist"	4:57
14.	"Talking Shit About a Pretty Sunset"	5:50
15.	"Make Everyone Happy/Mechanical Birds"	6:04
16.	"Space Travel Is Boring"	1:53

Vinyl edition

Side one
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Dramamine"	5:42
2.	"Breakthrough"	4:06
3.	"Custom Concern"	4:28
4.	"Might"	1:30
5.	"Lounge"	6:34

Side two
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Beach Side Property"	7:00
2.	"Ionizes & Atomizes"	4:21
3.	"Head South"	4:22
4.	"Dog Paddle"	2:02
5.	"Novocain Stain"	3:42

Side three
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Tundra/Desert"	5:24
2.	"Ohio"	6:00
3.	"Exit Does Not Exist"	4:57
4.	"Talking Shit About A Pretty Sunset"	5:50

Side four
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Make Everyone Happy/Mechanical Birds"	6:04
2.	"Space Travel Is Boring"	1:53
3.	"Edit the Sad Parts"	7:04
4.	"A Manic Depressive Named Laughing Boy"	5:03

Personnel

Modest Mouse

Isaac Brock – guitar and vocals (drums on "Dog Paddle")
Jeremiah Green – drums (bass on "Dog Paddle")
Eric Judy – bass (guitar on "Dog Paddle")

Additional musicians

Steve Wold – slide guitar, mandolin, guitar, backup vocals
Brent Arnold – cello
Nicole Johnson – vocals on "Custom Concern", "Ionizes & Atomizes", and "Head South"
Calvin Johnson – extra vocals on "Head South"

Other

Produced by Steve Wold
Engineered by Scott Swayze & Steve Wold
Photography by Isaac Brock

References

^ "This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing ... | AllMusic" – via www.allmusic.com.
^ "Robert Christgau: Album: Modest Mouse: This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About". www.robertchristgau.com.
^ Howe, Brian. "Modest Mouse: This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About/The Lonesome Crowded West". Pitchfork.
"Modest Mouse - This is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About". Archived from the original on 2000-03-09.
Gentry, Brandon. "This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About – Modest Mouse". AllMusic. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
Christgau, Robert (2000). "Modest Mouse: This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About". Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s. St. Martin's Press. p. 208. ISBN 0-312-24560-2. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
"Modest Mouse: This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About: Pitchfork Review". Archived from the original on March 9, 2000. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
Howe, Brian (November 5, 2014). "Modest Mouse: This Is a Long Drive for Someone With Nothing to Think About / The Lonesome Crowded West". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 24, 2015.
Harris, Keith (2004). "Modest Mouse". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian (eds.). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 551. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
"Modest Mouse, 'This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About'". The Albuquerque Tribune. May 30, 1996. p. D9.

External links

This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About lyrics at Interstate-8

v t e Modest Mouse
Isaac Brock Tom Peloso Ben Massarella Russell Higbee Simon O'Connor Jeremiah Green Eric Judy Dann Gallucci Joe Plummer Johnny Marr Benjamin Weikel Lisa Molinaro Jim Fairchild Davey Brozowski John Wickhart
Studio albums	This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About The Lonesome Crowded West The Moon & Antarctica Sad Sappy Sucker Good News for People Who Love Bad News We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank Strangers to Ourselves The Golden Casket
EPs	Blue Cadet-3, Do You Connect? Interstate 8 The Fruit That Ate Itself Night on the Sun Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks No One's First, and You're Next
Compilations	Building Nothing Out of Something
Live albums	Baron von Bullshit Rides Again
Singles	"Float On" "Ocean Breathes Salty" "The World at Large" "Dashboard" "King Rat" "Missed the Boat" "We've Got Everything" "Satellite Skin" "Lampshades on Fire" "The Ground Walks, with Time in a Box"
Related	Discography Ugly Casanova Brand New/Modest Mouse Tour

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