The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
Monday, March 16, 2015 — 5A

ACROSS

1 Ignore the

teleprompter

6 Take for a ride,

so to speak

10 Pyramid, to Tut
14 Supermodel

Klum

15 “Look what I did!”
16 Old-time knife
17 “Full House” star

Bob

18 Alphabetically

first of the acting
Baldwin brothers

19 Sedgwick of “The

Closer”

20 McDonald’s

freebies

23 Contractor’s

approx.

25 Word ending for

enzymes

26 Outcome
27 Multi-day event

featuring rainbow
flags

31 Alaskan native
32 Forever and a

day

33 Opposite of NNE
36 Campus official
37 Willy with a

chocolate factory

39 Indian spiced tea
40 Kazakhstan,

once: Abbr.

41 For the lady
42 Prankster’s

favorite month

43 Ride with

wooden horses

46 Scramble, as a

secret message

49 Dawn goddess
50 Old AT&T rival
51 Fruit-flavored

hard candies

55 Part of Q.E.D.
56 “You hurt?” reply,

hopefully

57 Really bad

turnout

60 Feel concern
61 Luigi’s “Bye!”
62 Conclude
63 “Faster __ a

speeding 
bullet ...”

64 Tailor’s sewn

folds

65 Sidewalk eateries

DOWN

1 Sighs of

satisfaction

2 Agcy. with narcs
3 Astronomical

distance

4 “I had no __!”
5 Walk-on role
6 Hung around
7 Not windy
8 “Zip-__-Doo-

Dah”

9 ’90s Los del Río

dance hit

10 “For shame!”
11 “Shame __!”
12 Two-time Best

Actress Oscar
winner Streep

13 Beauty’s beau
21 Tire pressure

abbr.

22 Popular jeans
23 “Jeepers!”
24 Black Friday

deals

28 Many a punch

line

29 __-weensy
30 Chinese

cookware

33 Doesn’t lose

sleep over

34 New Orleans

footballer

35 Oscar who

quipped, “True
friends stab you
in the front”

37 Lottery winners’

cry

38 Bobby of hockey
39 Naval noncom:

Abbr.

41 Actress Lamarr
42 As, on the

periodic table

43 Like lava
44 Colorful little

lizards

45 “Impressive!”
46 Cockpit panic

button

47 “Little Broken

Hearts” singer
Jones

48 Civil War nurse

Barton

52 Parisian gal pal
53 Linguist

Chomsky

54 Gossip columnist

Barrett

58 Michelle Obama

__ Robinson

59 EMTs’

destinations

By Amy Johnson
©2015 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
03/16/15

03/16/15

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

RELEASE DATE– Monday, March 16, 2015

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

xwordeditor@aol.com

Question: 

What goes 

great with your 
morning coffee?

Answer: 

michigandaily.com

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PARKING

Modest Mouse is 
back after hiatus

Indie vets push into 
new musical terrain 

on new album

By CATHERINE BAKER

Daily Arts Writer

Modest Mouse, well known for 

its early 2004 single “Float On” 
and sometimes Pink Floyd-esque 
sound, has not 
released 
an 

album for eight 
years. 

Comprised 

primarily 
of 

singer/guitar-
ist Isaac Brock, 
drummer 
Jer-

emiah 
Green 

and bassist Eric 
Judy, the Ameri-
can rock band was formed in 1993 
in Issaquah, Wash. and gleaned 
its name from the Virginia Woolf 
story, “The Mark on the Wall.” 
Its debut album, This is a Long 
Drive for Someone with Nothing to 
Think About, was released in 1996 
and used popular soft rock ele-
ments such as quick guitar riffs 
and steady, softer drums. The 
Lonesome Crowded West is often 
labeled their breakthrough album 
and consequently gained the band 
a cult following that still exists 
today. 2007’s We Were Dead Before 
the Ship Even Sank, the band’s fifth 
album, was the first Modest Mouse 
release to reach #1 on the Billboard 
200 Charts.

The band’s anxiously awaited 

sixth album, Strangers to Our-
selves, is set to release on Mar. 
17 and consists of 15 songs, each 
more innovative than the last. 
This album explores musical tech-
niques not yet breached in previous 
Modest Mouse endeavors such as 
warped vocals and off-kilter brass 
instruments, as seen in tracks like 
“Pistol (A. Cunanan, Miami, FL 
1996)” and “Sugar Boats.” While 
these unconventional methods 
sometimes lead the album astray, 
without risk there would be no 
innovation. 

The opening and titular track, 

“Strangers to Ourselves,” begins 
with a steady drumbeat and swell-
ing violins before launching into 
Brock crooning “Lucky we’re so 
capable to forget” into the micro-
phone. It’s fairly unstructured and 
is essentially just the musings of 
the lead singer, but it is an excel-
lent way to set the stage for the 
rest of the album. “Lampshades 
on Fire” was the first single to be 
released and a glimpse of the hard-
core drumming that has come to 
be associated with Modest Mouse. 
It has everything — catchy “ba ba 

ba das,” overlapping vocals, lyr-
ics about mistakes and moving 
on. Directly following “Strangers 
to Ourselves,” “Lampshades on 
Fire” gets the blood flowing and 
launches into Modest Mouse’s new 
sound. 

“Shit in Your Cut” slows things 

down again with sultry guitar riffs 
and mysterious, growly vocals. 
Brock 
simultaneously 
harbors 

a bitterness towards humanity 
and loneliness as witnessed in 
the lines “With the strain and the 
comforting / You know everyone 
needs to go / But don’t everyone 
go at once.” The following track, 
“Pistol,” is the weirdest number 
on the album. The title of the song 
references American spree killer 
Andrew Cunanan, but the actual 
song is entirely about sex. With 
heavy drums, distorted speaking 
vocals and lines like, “Come into 
my room and clean my pistol 
loaded up,” the whole song is one 
giant euphemism. 

From “Pistol,” the album heads 

to “Ansel,” a sobering tale with a 
folky beat that describes Brock’s 
brother’s hiking accident. “The 
Ground Walks, with Time in a 
Box” is the longest song at just 
over six minutes and feels like a 
jack-in-the-box that is constantly 
on the edge of popping up. The 
tempo increases with swirling 
vocals and builds to an unsatisfy-
ing ending. “Coyotes” is arguably 
the simplest song, but one of the 
best. Brock touches on human-
ity’s destructive habits again, 
singing 
“Mankind’s 
behaving 

like some serial killers / Giant old 
monsters afraid of the sharks.” 
The 
straightforward 
guitar 

plucks and swelling chorus allow 
the lyrics themselves to take cen-
ter stage. 

The guitar on “Pups to Dust” 

throws it back to early Modest 
Mouse and the lyrics address 
broader concepts, such as human 

purpose, “We don’t belong here/
We were just born here,” and rea-
sons to live. 

“Sugar 
Boats” 
is 
another 

curveball, using a jazzy circus 
tune and distorted, winding 
machine sounds to throw the lis-
tener into some strange, upside 
down universe. The lyrics tend 
to disappear between the ringing 
cowbells and bold trumpets, but 
Brock attempts to regain control 
and sticks to the same themes of 
ignorance as to the purpose of 
life. 

“Wicked Campaign” is vocal 

heavy, relying mainly on the song’s 
lyrics to carry it through. In a 
movie, it’s the type of song that 
would be playing during a mon-
tage of the main character driving 
around while they make an impor-
tant decision. “Be Brave” is gritty, 
substantial and repetitive. The 
shark metaphor makes a return 
with “As sharks in sheep’s clothing 
/ Talking with our hips,” but the 
rest of the song is an anthem for 
human resiliency, which is always 
appreciated. 

“God is an Indian and You’re 

an Asshole” is a repetitive, yet 
entertaining interlude with the 
only lyrics being “God is an 
Indian and you’re an asshole / 
Get on your horse and ride.”

“The Tortoise and the Tour-

ist” has received a positive 
response 
amongst 
dedicated 

Modest Mouse fans and for just 
cause. Echoing the title of the 
album, the song uses powerful 
lyrics to describe packing up and 
leaving life behind. “The Best 
Room” is a quick, upbeat, sarcas-
tic response to “The Tortoise and 
the Tourist.” It’s the makeshift 
ending to Strangers to Ourselves, 
summing up all the previous 
thoughts in a stompy rant. “Of 

Course We Know” is the true end 
to the album, minimizing the 
vocals and maximizing the con-
templative guitar solos. Brock 
comments one final time, “What 
we’re here for/We just do not 
know,” bringing the album full 
circle with just as few answers as 
it began with. 

At its heart Strangers to Our-

selves is the same Modest Mouse 
that fans know and love, just 
eight years older. Brock contin-

ues to sing about his distaste for 
humanity, but adds an element of 
active curiosity in his quest for 
the purpose of life. While some 
tracks may not fit expectations, 
part of the beauty of a distin-
guished band is their ability to 
take risks and expand their genre. 
Time will be the only way to see if 
Modest Mouse can continue their 
22-year run and develop it into a 
lifetime.

ALBUM REVIEW

A-

Strangers to 
Ourselves

Modest 
Mouse

Epic

EPIC

Also back after a hiatus: trucker hats.

TV REVIEW

‘Bates’ builds drama

By CHLOE GILKE

Managing Arts Editor

For a show that borrows its 

characters and story from the 
Master of Suspense, “Bates Motel” 
is decidedly un-
Hitchcockian. 
There’s 
zero 

subtlety in its 
visuals or story-
telling, the act-
ing can verge on 
theatrical 
and 

over-the-top, 
and horrific plot 
elements 
like 

brutal violence 
and incest are 
included 
pri-

marily for their 
shock factor. This all might seem to 
add up to a hot mess of a show, and, 
truth be told, it usually does. But 
in its third season, “Bates Motel” 
shows more confidence than ever, 
finally embracing its madness and 
becoming one of the most enter-
taining shows on TV.

The backbone of “Bates Motel” 

is the journey of Norman Bates 
(Freddie 
Highmore, 
“August 

Rush”) from a meek teen to the 
stalking, 
murderous 
character 

viewers know from Hitchcock’s 
“Psycho.” So far, “Bates” has 
mostly pinned Norman’s budding 
pathology on his unhealthy atti-
tudes toward women. His moth-
er Norma (Vera Farmiga, “The 
Departed”) is the number one lady 
in his life, but their relationship is 
probably too intimate for a mother 
and 18-year-old son. Norma’s other 
son, forgotten child Dylan (Max 
Thieriot, “House at the End of the 
Street”) points out at the begin-
ning of the episode that it might 
not be normal for the two to spend 
nights snuggling and sharing a 

bed. Norma and Norman rely upon 
one another as their sole source of 
unconditional love and support; 
for a woman who has suffered a 
string of toxic lovers and a boy who 
wants nothing more than to quiet 
the murderous turmoil lurking 
underneath the surface, their bond 
is the only thing keeping all that 
pain from breaking them. When 
Dylan makes the comment and 
implies an incestuous relationship, 
he’s not only speaking what’s likely 
on viewers’ minds, but he’s prob-
lematizing this crucial mother/son 
relationship, perhaps providing 
the first spark that switches Nor-
man into the literal lady-killer we 
know he will become.

“A Death in the Family” also 

provides storic exigency by mak-
ing Norman more of an active 
creeper than he ever was before. 
He’s taken to voyeurism and fetish-
istic sex before, but the arrival of 
Annika (Tracy Spiridakos, “Revo-
lution”), a beautiful young hotel 
guest, renews Norman’s perverted 
tendencies. When Annika checks 
in, she drops her belongings on the 
ground, and Norman bends down 
to help (but mostly to blatantly 
stare at her cleavage). Freddie 
Highmore is able to switch from 
the shy and sweet Norman to this 
dangerous deviant with just a sub-
tle flicker in his eyes. Highmore 
plays it as compulsion, not desire 
— when he later spies on Annika 
through the peephole of her hotel 
door and follows her on a drive 
to a local restaurant, it’s obvious 
that he’s driven by the same inner 
force that blacks out his memory, 
makes him kill and draws him to 
taxidermy and the macabre. In a 
show that so obviously hits view-
ers over the head with callbacks to 
Hitchcock, this might be the clos-
est thing we have to a ticking bomb 

under the table, to subtle, live-wire 
suspense.

Where Norman arches slowly 

to his inevitable “Psycho” fate, 
Norma takes a less nuanced 
approach. As always, Vera Farmiga 
turns out a fantastic performance 
amid fucking insanity of Norma’s 
storyline. The titular “Death in the 
Family” is Norma’s mother, who 
we learn was addled with addic-
tion and disease, rendering her 
emotionally unavailable for Nor-
ma’s traumatic childhood. Farmi-
ga perfectly balances the complex 
feelings Norma is dealing with; 
From the way she drowns her own 
son with love, it’s clear she wish-
es she had more than one single 
happy memory of her mother. But 
she’s also viciously uninterested 
in reconnecting with her family in 
the wake of this death. Her broth-
er Caleb (Kenny Johnson, “The 
Shield”) returns to mend relations, 
but Caleb reaches out to Dylan 
instead of Norma, knowing that he 
wouldn’t be welcome around the 
hotel again. Dylan has always been 
the weakest link of “Bates Motel,” 
so this renewed relationship with 
his father might be enough to gal-
vanize his scenes.

The seson premiere of “Bates 

Motel” ends with an image of Nor-
man driving Annika’s car back 
to the motel lot, appearing on the 
screen like a dim speck under-
neath the glowing blue light of 
the vacancy sign. Could he have 
killed Annika? “Bates Motel” 
drops clues, some subtle and some 
flashing as bright as that neon sign, 
then thrusts viewers into the dark 
with a killer cliffhanger. Sure, Mr. 
Hitchcock might have something 
to say about mystery vs. suspense, 
but “Bates Motel” is using every 
tool in its box to gear up for its cra-
ziest season yet.

B+

Bates 
Motel

Season 3 
Premiere 

Mondays 
at 9 p.m.

A&E

VINCE VAUGHN
From Page 1A

that they reflect how Vaughn trans-
forms his films. Vaughn takes on 
smaller, sometimes independent 
films and makes them distinguished 
and unique through the fullness and 
life he brings to his characters.

“I like being a part of an origi-

nal idea, there’s something that’s 
exciting about it,” Vaughn said. “I 
do understand when someone is 
moved by something or excited by 
something and they almost want 
to homage it, or they have an inter-
pretation of it. It feels like nowa-
days, in the market place, there 
is a sense that you have to have a 
big IP or franchise in order to cut 
through in the movie theaters. The 
fault of that is that a lot of the char-
acter stuff or people driven stories 
go to the waste side.”

Vaughn’s taste for character-

driven writing isn’t limited to the 
comedy films he’s well known for. 
The 44-year-old actor recently 
finished filming the second sea-
son of “True Detective.”

“I’m kind of returning on some 

level to dramas, which was the 
first thing I broke out with. Now 
that I’ve done comedies, people 
feel like that’s a switch. I feel 
really excited to get on a different 
tone. (Series creator) Nick (Piz-
zolatto) is incredible, the story is 
phenomenal,” Vaughn said.

Though 
the 
similarities 

between Vaughn’s participation 
in “True Detective” and “Unfin-

ished Business” seem initially 
nonexistent, “True Detective” 
is a writer’s TV show. Quiet and 
beautifully structured, as Vaughn 
mentioned, the show parallels 
Vaughn’s character-driven choic-
es in comedy. And it’s original; 
it’s fresh. Vaughn spoke about the 
ongoing trend of remakes in Hol-
lywood — big moneymakers ver-
sus original films.

“A lot of times if something is 

successful, the instinct is to copy 
or repeat it right away. I haven’t 
done a sequel to any of my com-
edies because I’ve always felt you 
need to have a really good idea that 
stands alone in order to put that 
story out versus following up the 
next year with another version of 
that movie and let the fact that the 
movie did well be more important 
than having a good concept for it. 
I think there is a trend to jump on 
something and make a sequel right 
away before there is an original 
idea to suit the characters well.”

In 
“Unfinished 
Business,” 

Vaughn’s character goes on a jour-
ney with the goal of being better 
off than where he started — and 
that’s how Vaughn approaches 
his movies. Vaughn’s choices 
aren’t the big, blockbuster hits 
(though Vaughn would debatably 
make a better Bruce Wayne than 
Ben Affleck), but rather films that 
appear smaller, that rely on the 
writing and that he pushes to the 
next level through his acting and 
character building: the underdog 
films.

