Song(s) of the Day # 3,539 Mouse

 Where I discuss the latest album by Australian band Mouse as well as my personal feelings about rodents.

'I hate those mieces to pieces.' I genuinely do. I'm no good with rodents at all. I suppose the same goes for most people but I'm definitely pretty useless where rodents are concerned, though I did have a hamster I was very fond of when I was about 12. Genghis he was called if you're taking notes though personally I doubt that very much and franky I'd be a bit concerned about you if you were.

But the sight of a mouse or rat seriously unnerves me and can easily shake my day off its moorings. Yesterday afternoon I was doing my laundry in the communal building across the courtyard where I live. I thought I'd take a shortcut across the alleyway where the bins are to the door.

A dead rat was in my path. I almost trod on it. Hardly a ferocious specimen. Not fully grown. Some might have though it cute. Certainly nothing to strike terror into anyone as it had clearly breathed its last. Still I turned on my heels sharply and the rat was on my mind for the rest of the day. I'm just like that. I imagine many would empathise and wish I'd never brought up the subject in the first place..

I have no problems with bands that choose names that are rodent related you'll be pleased to hear. It would be slightly odd if I did, name to choose. Modest Mouse always struck me as an odd choice. What exactly is one of those anyhow. I never really got my head around the band and their considerable popularity either. I have a lot of time for Rotterdam's Rats on Rafts. Just the band mind. The reality would be truly ghastly.

Anyway, 'get on with it' I hear you cry. We're not here to listen to your personal hang ups. What is Australians Mouse latest record Under The Light of the Air Conditioner like then? 

Well it's a lot like a Sonic Youth record seeing as you ask. The Youth are clearly Mouse's guiding inspiration and that's obvious fairly early on on the record.Within the first three minutes of opening track Yosemite. Good as much of this is, you never shake the impression, 'this sounds just like...' Sonic Youth's great and enduring achievement was to maintain a brittle, high wire balancing act between melody, dissonancem attitude and noise. There's an awful lot of the same sensation here.

For eleven tracks and almost forty five minutes here Mouse pay tribute to and embellish the Sonic Youth Experience. Despite some of the incredible intense joy achieved here, I'd say ultimately they're a little too in thrall to Thurston, Kim, Lee and Steve to break fully at any point into their own territory which is what you wih for any band really. But they have a great time trying and I did listening to them try just now..

* Thanks once more Darren Jones for directing me here..Enjoyed this too although I felt it needed to escape the SY shadow.