Modest Mouse "Dashboard"

I'm going to take another stab at this music video blog thing by starting off with the latest from Modest Mouse. It was directed by Motion Theory. I know I've seen that name before, but can't remember what else he/she/they might have directed. (Been out of the game for a bit!)

I'm familiar with the two other mainstream videos by Modest Mouse, "Float on" and "Ocean Breathes Salty." As far as their music video style is concerned, I tend to lump them in with Foo Fighters where each video has a different personality but still form a solid artistic body of work. Now, the content of the videos might not have much to do with the lyrics, but the theme runs the whole length.

Such is the case with "Dashboard," a "fish this big" storyline, where an old man enters a fishermen pub and proceeds to explain how he came about the microphone which is where his right hand used to be. Of course, none of the others believe his story, as is demonstrated by the subtitles at the bottom of the screen.

One area you will find no fault is in the production design of the piece, as we are plunged into the story of the fisherman and his boat at sea. He's much younger in age and apparently on the hunt for something given the vintage map he keeps referring to. His boat is tossed about the waves. Eventually he casts his line into the waters, using a CD as bait. For days he pursues a large fish he saw leaping out of the waters during a storm. Hallucinations set in and finally the fish bites. With the fish too large to reel in, his boat starts to be towed by the monster.

When he wakes he finds his boat has run ashore some sort of technological wasteland. And even more surprising, the fish is still attached to the line. Now, with the stranded boat aiding him, he recommences reeling in his fishing line. He wrestles with the marine animal until we sea it pop up from the side of the boat and take off his outstretched hand. All the while we jump back and forth to the old telling the tale with props from the pub. After jumping back into the tale, we find he is being carried on a stretcher further inland between hills of undulating speakers by people in strange outfits.

Now comes the typical fashion of wrapping up what might have been a near-perfect video; the performance segment. They're dying for you to see this band play. So, instead of giving the last third some odd twist, or new and interesting turn, we now discover he is the lead singer of Modest Mouse. (My pet peeves are: a) performance videos, b) the focusing on of certain band members who are lead singers, or more radical looking than the others, i.e. Fall Out Boy, and c) music video directors McG & Dave Meyers.) Back to the video though, he is laid on the ground, by who I assume are the rest of the band in costume (again, we're not allowed to see their face because they're not half as important as the guy who's singing) some sort of voodoo people start appearing. The leader attaches the microphone to the man's hand we're off and singing! With the whole band performing, the tribe starts dancing and we see they even have electronic devices in the place of body parts.

Back in the present we see the old man's narrative getting more exaggerated to the point of being preposterous. The older elderly men begin to mock him until the bartender, who has to this point watched from afar, comes out from behind the bar, slams a stool down, places his foot on it and lifts his pant leg to reveal his lower leg has been replaced with the neck of a guitar. Clever, but not surprising.

If I can come up with a rating system, I will edit this post to reflect it. Until then, you'll have to settle for 4 out of 5 starts.

Grover, over.