For the next few days we’re sharing an exclusive sneak preview of “Whale Song,” a recent live staple and now B-side on Modest Mouse’s new limited Autumn Beds 7-inch. It’s as dark and dissonant a six minutes as Isaac Brock has churned out since The Moon & Antarctica, the master stroke that made the Mouse indie rock holy cows. Only drawback: You probably shouldn’t hold your breath for the Kids Bop version to come bouncing down the pipeline any time soon.
Modest Mouse – The Whale Song


June 18th, 2009 at 10:54 am
This is outstanding
June 18th, 2009 at 11:05 am
Wow. This… WOW.
June 18th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Finally a good B side..
June 18th, 2009 at 11:12 am
stellar. mm at their best.
June 18th, 2009 at 11:15 am
Hell freakin yes. So freaking awesome. Epic. Yes. Fans of modest mouse pleased.
June 18th, 2009 at 11:15 am
yes!!!
June 18th, 2009 at 11:18 am
At this point, it’s pretty clear they’re the great rock band of their generation. Cool song.
June 18th, 2009 at 11:57 am
Simply awesome.
June 18th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
We Were Dead meets Moon & Antarctica. Best. Song. Ever.
June 18th, 2009 at 1:12 pm
Honestly, this is my favorite mm song to date.
June 18th, 2009 at 2:10 pm
revolutionary
June 18th, 2009 at 2:36 pm
This song can lick the sweatiest part of my ass.
June 18th, 2009 at 2:40 pm
This song licks the sweatiest part of my ass.
June 18th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
fuuuuck yess.. back to the jam sesshhhh.
June 18th, 2009 at 4:06 pm
I have been watching the video of this song on youtube over and over for three months now. To hear the studio of it… Oh my sweet Jesus. Modest Mouse is back!!!!!!!!!!!!!
June 18th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
YES!!!!!
June 18th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
ridiculously amazing culmination of isaac’s and the mouse’s creativity and talent…combined with marr’s righteous contrasting but melding style and you get my friends…the whale song… which is a love child of all the mm albums but most notably to my ears were moon&antarctica, lonesome crowded, and the new fresh craziness that is WeWereDead earfucking me with an aural orgasm.
June 18th, 2009 at 8:43 pm
killer song just ate my brain
June 18th, 2009 at 11:39 pm
Wow really KiDsStayFREE the song is fuckin sick im not saying otherwise. however what you just wrote has got to be the gayest thing ive ever read and i know some gay stuff (literally). Like i said sick song but really dude lets go…
June 19th, 2009 at 12:59 am
holy shit i dont even know what to say to this song. oh my.
June 19th, 2009 at 10:41 am
Love this song reminds me of moon. Autum beds is a tune as well, ugly casanova or what? this ep is shaping up to be one of mm best offerings in years. just wish they’d play uk soon!!!!
June 19th, 2009 at 11:53 am
Reminds me of explosions in the sky. I dig it
June 19th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Not as amazing as when its live but definitely has some of their original roots…which just WONDERFUL =]
June 19th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
dude, MM have been bullshit ever since The Moon & Antarctica; I never thought I’d be able to tolerate anything from them ever again. but this is really kickass.
June 19th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
I love this, more than anything on their last album even. What great guiter work on that intro…
Why do they look like the Decemberists in the photo though? Bad move.
June 19th, 2009 at 1:50 pm
иσω тнαт ιѕ ωнαт ι ¢αℓℓ νєяу gσσ∂
June 19th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
ugh. god, what happened to issac? this is garbage. go put on lonesome crowded west and you’ll see what he was capable of. it’s sad, i used to be such a huge fan.
June 19th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Like the rest of their recent 7-inch songs, I’m none too impressed, but I grew up on Long Drive and Lonesome Crowded, so maybe I’m expecting too much.
June 19th, 2009 at 2:59 pm
modest mouse is pretty fuckin awesome. this song is, like others have said, a perfect mix of the moon and antarctica and their newer sound. its great, i cant wait for their new album.
June 19th, 2009 at 3:03 pm
Took ‘em long enough.
June 19th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
This is mixed really terribly.
June 19th, 2009 at 3:21 pm
This is mixed terribly.
June 19th, 2009 at 3:42 pm
better than the other stuff they’ve been releasing lately, but still not modest mouse
June 19th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
Its Modest Mouse meets This Will Destroy You. Always was particularly fond of instrumentals. Hope theres more where this came from on Mouse’s future releases.
June 19th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
it’s about time they have a good new song that hits home with their older albums.
June 19th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
This Will Destroy You and Modest Mouse in the same sentence is a pretty wild combination, but if they toured together that would be pretty mad. (in a good way)
June 19th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Sounds like ACTUAL whales…at a trippy whale disco.
June 19th, 2009 at 7:15 pm
Not sure why everyone says this is like the Moon and Antarctica, sounds like post Good News to me… this isn’t bad, I really like the bass line, just not as orgasmic as the previous people have been posting. After Lonesome Crowded… not sure its possible to trump that. ever.
June 19th, 2009 at 10:31 pm
First, I don’t know why people are saying the Lonesome Crowded West is their best album, it’s their 3rd best after The Moon & Antarctica, and This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About.
Second, this does sound a bit like from their last 3 albums, which isn’t bad. Good 8/10. Can’t wait for the EP.
June 19th, 2009 at 11:53 pm
I don’t understand why everyone tries to compare all their new music to all their old music. You either like the song or you don’t, who gives a shit what anyone else thinks or whether or not you prefer the old stuff. In my opinion it’s a very unique and well done song. Modest Mouse is amazing.
June 20th, 2009 at 7:01 am
mr green has forgot how to drum just one of the mouses many problems strip back down to a 3 peice and let him drum damn it!
June 20th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Opinions were like kittens I was giving them away. Stop bitching about what albums you think suck and perhaps discuss the current song ‘Whale Song’, which I think is a solid dark ballad.
June 20th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
Anyone have a higher res version of the picture up there?
June 20th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
I agree.. wow
June 20th, 2009 at 11:11 pm
Gotta say when i first heard mm i fell in love with the older stuff, but when i heard tracks like ocean breathes salty, it broke my heart, i dig this track – not so much the A-side
June 22nd, 2009 at 12:58 am
Vaginas and penises for all!!!!
…This song is OK!!!!!!!!!!
June 22nd, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Surprise! Modest Mouse fans blowing something new WAY out of proportion. The song is annoying if you don’t smoke pot, but I can see the merrit if you do. I am talking about the whale sounds on the guitar, of course. I really like the rest of the song, and the song as a whole is great (whale parts and all), but it is NOT their best work ever. It might be their best work SINCE ‘the moon & antarctica.’
June 23rd, 2009 at 5:43 am
mouse b-sides are always legit. king rat anyone?
July 2nd, 2009 at 1:21 am
Modest Mouse is always legit so shut the fuck up all you pusssiiiiieeeessss!!!!
July 3rd, 2009 at 12:14 am
VolcomSamurai herez
LOVEIN’ THE MODEST MOUSE band
Every song from Modest Mouse has it’s rare one of a kind outstanding qualities, that’s only one of the many reasons i love em’
Sincerely a Comment,
Tyler Vigil
July 5th, 2009 at 5:23 pm
To all the assholes here saying “OH MAN MODEST MOUSE IS FINALLY BACK” go fuck yourselves. You’re pissed that the bad doesn’t hold the same style/sound for over 10 years? More like you’re pissed that they got national recognition with Good News and then you couldn’t be “unique and different” for liking them.
To quote Isaac Brock “Fuck the old stuff”
Great song
July 16th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
it’s weird that they’re still fully capable of sounding as awesome as they did on the moon & antarctica.
September 1st, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Excuse me, I just think that there would be some more information from you about this issue.
September 2nd, 2009 at 9:56 am
I have subscribed this wonderful site, thank you!
September 22nd, 2009 at 2:59 am
Thanks a lot for your assistance!