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:
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SERVICES
SUMMER EMPLOYMENT
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.