by
Modest Mouse
- Record Label: Glacial Pace Recordings
- Release Date: Jun 5, 2026
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Jun 4, 2026It is a record that is at times anxious, claustrophobic, and deliberately rough around the edges. Yet, amidst the manic energy and junkyard clatter, it always leaves the door propped open for a moment of unexpected, heartbreaking beauty for those willing to take a bite.
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MojoJun 16, 2026Modest Mouse's first LP in five years is confident and restlessly inspired, juggling prickly melodicism and hard-earned optimism with left-hand turns that make clear Brock is as creatively plugged-in as ever. [Aug 2026, p.85]
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Jun 15, 2026There’s a verve and dynamism to even the slower songs that suggest he has once again tapped into a rich vein of form, three decades after announcing himself as one of US alternative rock’s most idiosyncratic voices.
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Record CollectorJun 12, 2026Brock's determination to cram multiple styles into 15 tracks furnishes hangdog intrigues and knotty wisdoms aplenty. [Jul 2026, p.102]
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Jun 4, 2026Offers some of the most emotionally poignant songs of the band’s career.
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Jun 11, 2026Slightly frustrating, landing somewhere between greatness and average. Still, there’s enough here to suggest they’ve got another all-timer in them, and they’re pretty darn close to pulling it off.
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Classic Rock MagazineJun 22, 2026An Eraser And A Maze is a wildly sprawling thing. .... Modest Mouse remain on of the American indie rock scene's most fascinating, nuanced bands. [Summer 2026, p.73]
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Jun 8, 2026The music still slaps, but the band occasionally opts for inorganic sounds, such as the synth-heavy “Absolutely Necessary Never” and the electronic rhythms of “Rotten Fruit” (featuring pkpkpkp), which feels foreign.
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UncutJun 4, 2026An Eraser... is overstuffed with too many short studio experiments, but there are many more moments of startling humanity. [Jul 2026, p.35]
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Jun 4, 2026More often than not, An Eraser and a Maze makes you wish Modest Mouse had been more deliberate in sharpening these no-filter moments, especially as the nondescript instrumentals regularly blur into the background.
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Jun 8, 2026“Speak N Spell (Or Not)” is a iridescent guitar nod that is every bit as sweet as the best moments on The Lonesome Crowded West. But there are also moments where the music seems to meander without as much payoff, such as the rambling man’s take on iPhone alienation “Can’t Talk Right Now” or the New Wave-tinged “Absolutely Necessary Never,” cool ideas never quite materialize as great songs.
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Jun 5, 2026Here, familiarly awkward slip-ups mingle with poignant moments.
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Jun 5, 2026We’re spoon-fed half-baked concepts and mundane middle-aged observations stretched far beyond their depth. Somewhere inside An Eraser and A Maze, there’s probably a very good EP trying to get out.