If anyone was paying attention, you will remember that five years ago today, Modest Mouse released their last album We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank.

Without trying to sound like an ungrateful fan stamping his feet and asking where that new album is (which seems to the common occurrence every time Modest Mouse makes a post on Facebook), we would like to point out that this is the longest gap so far between albums. If you don't take No One's First, And You're Next, as it's an EP and featured mostly old material.

With We Were Dead reaching this milestone, we thought we'd take this moment to recap and speculate on some of the recent activities of the band and its members, in the hopes of stirring up some discussion or perhaps someone filling us in on some news we're not aware of:

• The band as a whole: After performing a mammoth 119 known shows in 2007, the performances cut to about a half of that for 2008, 2009 and 2010, before performing only 15 shows last year. This year doesn't seem to be off to anything different, with the only dates having past and set for the future being festivals.
  
  One could be optimistic and see this as them spending more time in the studio working, or maybe they're just taking a break. I'm all for not rushing things. However with so little new material having been debuted live, I would think it's closer to the latter.
  
  While the band has been notoriously shy from giving interviews in the past few years, when they have strangely there has been mention of a new album being practically finished, only to have the same story repeated a year later. A lot has happened since, Johnny Marr did leave the band, and who knows how that may have affected any of the material that he may have contributed to.
  
  Even the sessions with Big Boi occurred almost one year ago, although it seems to have been made out that that was more of an experiment than anything.
  
  So far the only new material floating around are the songs that have been performed live. The two that have had the most oration being Lampshades On Fire and Poison The Well. Another potential song is the untitled track performed at The Warfield, unofficially titled "Mexico". Lastly there is the untitled track that made an appearance at the end of the Don't Move Here episode.
  
  
• Isaac Brock: Recently, apart from playing the few last minute surprise solo shows, the only other project Isaac potentially has on the go is the writing of the Queens Of Country soundtrack. Which was also announced about a year ago, and has since not been mentioned again. The film is finally due out at the end of this month, and while Isaac is still mentioned as the composer on IMDB, the lack of updates around this make me think he's no longer involved. We attempted to contact the producers of the film, but did not receive a reply. Hopefully with the release just around the corner, we should get some closure to this soon.
  
  
• Jeremiah Green: The once side project busy Jeremiah, has also been quiet of late. At least perhaps quiet to news sources. After multiple World Gang releases early last year, this work seems to have slowed down since releasing that live album last June.
  
  
• Eric Judy: Eric hasn't performed with the band live since 2011/07/02. Not that the band has performed that much since then. Rumours are rife that he has left the band. Personally I don't believe it, Eric does have young children, and could be taking a break from touring. We have tried to contact the band and certain members about his status, but haven't heard anything.
  
  
• Jim Fairchild: Jim will be returning to perform some dates with the reunited Grandaddy. A question to maybe ask is, depending on the outcome there, will he perhaps not return should they decide to take things further?
  
  
• Tom Peloso: To our knowledge, nothing news worthy has been happening with Tom lately (sorry Tom).
  
  
• Joe Plummer: A lot of updates lately have been revolving around Joe, now that he is with The Shins. They have a new album out as of today (coincidence?), and he will be touring full time with them. As with Jim, a question to ask, is does this mean Joe is perhaps done with his time in Modest Mouse, or when his work with The Shins calms down, will he be returning?
  
  
• Pat Graham: Lastly, Pat Graham is still awesome, and we miss him and his updates on the band.
  
  

Today's two stories are brought to us courtesy of Pitchfork Media.

The first is a brief posting in their new feature Inbox, where Pitchfork's writers and editors field reader emails.

Nik Kapetanakis writes in under the subject "Desperately Seeking Modest Mouse", asking if it would be possible to do an in-depth interview with Modest Mouse. Pitchfork writes back with a semi cryptic response, that if you like the band, and you liked the documentary Pitchfork.tv did for the Flaming Lips' album The Soft Bulletin, that something related may be appearing in the near future. This leads to the possibility that Pitchfork.tv may be doing a piece focusing on a Modest Mouse album.

It would be super awesome if you guys did an in-depth video interview with Modest Mouse-- I am a huge fan, so pardon my maybe-far-fetched suggestion. --Nik Kapetanakis

We don't want to give too much away just yet, but if you like Modest Mouse and you liked our recent Pitchfork.tv documentary on the Flaming Lips' The Soft Bulletin, you'll probably be into another video piece we've got on the way...

The second article, mentions that Jim Fairchild's former band, Grandaddy, are reuniting for some shows this year. The only one set in stone at the moment is on September 2 at Dorset, England's End of the Road Festival.

While this is more than likely a temporary arrangement, it could potentially overlap with any future Modest Mouse tour dates, if any are planned for later in the year. Not that that would probably affect anything, as Modest Mouse is pretty good with swapping out members temporarily. Jim has also stated in the past, that he doesn't seem to be too involved in the recording process, if the band happens to be recording at the time... who knows, all speculation really.

Source: Grandaddy Reunite for Shows | News | Pitchfork

At the beginning of a recent interview with Rocksucker, guitarist Jim Fairchild briefly touches on Modest Mouse's recording progress. Specifically on the work that was recently done with Big Boi, and unfortunatly it's a little disheartening for anyone who's hoping to hear a new album any time soon:

How did the Modest Mouse sessions with Big Boi go?

I didn't go out to those sessions. They were trying out some songs with Big Boi. I'm not really sure what's going to come of that. I think Isaac's still in the process of deciding who he wants to record the record with.

So it's going to be primarily a Modest Mouse record, as opposed to some kind of collaboration?

Yeah, they were recording Modest Mouse songs out there. But I don't think Isaac knows what he wants to do with the new record yet so it's very early stages.

The rest of the article deals mainly with the recent reissue of Grandaddy's album The Sophtware Slump, his time with them, replacing Johnny Marr, and his solo project All Smiles. It's quite an interesting read, even if you're only interested in the Modest Mouse parts.

Source: ROCKSUCKER: Interview: Jim Fairchild (Grandaddy, Modest Mouse, All Smiles)

A short update from Jim Fairchild regarding the status of the All Smiles Staylow And Mighty vinyl.

I am writing to apologize for the amount of time that it has taken to fill the orders for Staylow and Mighty vinyl.

I was waiting for my vinyl manufacturer who delayed the shipping date A LOT for this album. I am told I'll have everything by the end of next week and it will go straight out the door after that. I was hoping to ship everyone everything at the same time. Since I feel so bad about treating you guys, the people who are most supportive of us, with such unpunctual behavior, I promise to make it up to you by personally shipping you all a copy of something unique and special in the not too distant future. It will involve Aaron Burtch, for you Grandaddy fans. And some of it is being recorded early next week. The rest is finished. Okay, look for the shipment soon. Thank you for your patience! I really appreciate it. All the best,

Jim

Source: All Smiles In The Studio by All Smiles » All Smiles Vinyl — Kickstarter

If you were one of Jim Fairchild's backers for his album/EP project back in November, links to the album are now being emailed out. Alternatively you can log into Kickstarter and get the download there.

Jim says he should have the vinyls sometime in March, and hopes to start mailing them out then. The EP is still in the works and will be sent out digitally as soon as it is complete.

The track list for Staylow And Mighty is as follows and clocks in at just under 37 minutes:

1. Captives
2. First Sign Of Snow
3. Trying To Wake You
4. Virgil Shaw
5. Escalon, Decades Ago
6. Where The Feathers Fell
7. Sun, Number One
8. Sun, Number Two
9. My Son, The Future
10. Diana's Throne
11. Totem

If you were not a backer and still want to purchase a copy of the album, you can do so from the All Smiles' website.

Source: All Smiles In The Studio by All Smiles » Staylow and Mighty — Kickstarter

Back in November, Jim Fairchild started a project through Kickstarter to raise money to complete work on a new All Smiles album and EP. The project's goal was met in December and since then he's been hard at work getting the final touches on everything.

This morning Jim posted an update to say that the new album is called "Staylow and Mighty", and will be released to the public on March 1st, with supporters receiving it before then digitally. He is also hoping that the records will begin shipping in the first week of March.

In the meantime, he has uploaded a new song from the album entitled "Virgil Shaw". Read about it and download a copy from his Kickstarter page.

Source: All Smiles In The Studio by All Smiles » First Song to our Friends and Supporters — Kickstarter

Jim Fairchild's project, All Smiles, which consists of him and fellow Modest Mouse band mate Joe Plummer, have been hard at work recording material for a new All Smiles album and EP over the past 6 months, between touring.

Jim is now looking for help from fans to try and raise $3000 by December 23 to pay for mixing and mastering. But in his own words, he doesn't want "handouts" and all donations will be rewarded with music:

• $5 - New EP digitally before the masses
• $10 - New LP and EP digitally before the masses
• $30 - New LP on hand screened, signed, and numbered vinyl plus digital download of LP and EP before the masses
• $50 - New LP on hand screened, signed, and numbered vinyl plus digital download of LP and EP before the masses AND handwritten lyrics to your favorite All Smiles song (or one of the new ones)
• $100 - A personally dedicated video of any All Smiles song, recorded by Jim specially for you or your friend. You'll get an HD download, a personal URL on the All Smiles website, and your option of having it on YouTube. PLUS everything in the $50 package
• $200 - A 20 minute Q&A via Skype. A personally dedicated video of any All Smiles song, recorded by Jim specially for you or your friend. You'll get an HD download, a personal URL on the All Smiles website, and your option of having it on YouTube. PLUS everything in the $50 package
• $500 - Private live digital performance and Q&A via Skype. PLUS everything in the $50 package
• $2000 - Private live performance anywhere in the US. PLUS everything in the $50 package

Mike Cresswell will be mixing the album in San Fransisco. The album will also feature Gary Jarman from The Cribs.

Source: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/312758826/all-smiles-in-the-studio

An article in the latest Rolling Stone magazine reveals lots of details regarding the planning of Heath Ledger's King Rat video. Isaac talks about his meetings with Ledger and the additional work that Terry Gilliam provided. He also talks about his last encounter with Ledger during a brake from shooting The Dark Knight.

Towards the end of the article, Isaac also talks about his work with the Shins' James Mercer on the 180 Degrees South documentary. It then goes on to mention that:

And the follow-up to 2007's We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank should be finished in the next six months, with the band road-testing some of the material on its current tour. "It'll take some effort," Brock says. "But that will make it more fun."

Now Modest Mouse has never been one to stick to any kind of release timeline, their albums have always been delayed, but as of today no new material has been performed on the current tour so far. Hopefully things will change before the tour is over and then this quote will make more sense.

Some people over at ModMouse.com have been able to talk to band members after some of the shows and have learned things that seem to support this. In Montreal Eric stated that the they are planning on working on a new album once this tour is over, that they are planning an east coast tour and that he doesn't think Johnny Marr will be returning.

In Anaheim Jeremiah said that they are beginning work on a new album, that he thinks Jim Fairchild will stay on as a guitarist and that he is hoping Brian Deck (The Moon & Antarctica, Everywhere And His Nasty Parlour Tricks & Sharpen Your Teeth) will produce it.

Thanks to Jedidude77 for the tip on the Rolling Stone article.

Billboard is reporting that Jim Fairchild, of the now defunct band Grandaddy, will once again be joining Modest Mouse. He will apparently be temporarily replacing Johnny Marr, who is currently playing with The Cribs. Marr still remains a full time member of Modest Mouse.

Source: http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/modest-mouse-returning-to-the-road-1003935234.story