Pitchfork

Modest Mouse must be the busiest rodents since the dress-makers in Cinderella. In the February 7 issue of Rolling Stone (the one with Thom Yorke on the cover), frontman Isaac Brock revealed a whole bunch of post-We Were Dead activity to the "Smoking Section" column. Although none of this info has been confirmed yet, here's what he had to say:

First, "My big priority is to finish up this Modest Mouse EP," which Rolling Stone says will feature "repolished outtakes from Modest Mouse's last two discs." Among the songs slated for inclusion on the EP according to Brock are "The Whale Song", "Satellite Skin", and a tune with the Dirty Dozen Brass Band. (You might remember Dirty Dozen from such Modest Mouse songs as "Horn Intro" and "This Devil's Workday" from Good News for People Who Love Bad News.)

However, that isn't all that's brewing in camp Modest Mouse. Brock told Rolling Stone that he and former Smiths/current MM guitarist Johnny Marr will begin writing new songs in March, before the band starts its tour with R.E.M. and the National.

Brock is also planning to contribute vocals to a Frank Black and the Catholics re-creation of the late Lee Hazlewood's 1963 debut album Trouble Is a Lonesome Town.

Finally, while it's not musical in nature, our favorite tidbit from the Rolling Stone interview is the revelation that Brock has been fishing with Shins frontman James Mercer. Considering the season, we imagine it's ice fishing, and if that's the case, only one question remains: Who's Lemmon and who's Matthau?

Modest Mouse:

04-08 Osaka, Japan - Club Quattro
04-09 Tokyo, Japan - Duo Music Exchange
04-10 Tokyo, Japan - Duo Music Exchange
05-23 Vancouver, British Columbia - Deer Lake Park *
05-29 Los Angeles, CA - Hollywood Bowl *
05-31 Berkeley, CA - The Greek Theatre *
06-03 Denver, CO - Red Rocks Amphitheatre *
06-06 Chicago, IL - United Center *
06-08 Toronto, Ontario - Molson Amphitheater *
06-10 Raleigh, North Carolina - Walnut Creek Amphitheatre *
06-11 Washington, DC - Merriweather Post Pavilion *
06-13 Boston, MA - Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts *
06-14 Long Island, NY - Jones Beach Theater *
06-18 Philadelphia, PA - Mann Center for the Performing Arts *
06-19 New York, NY - TBA *
06-21 Atlanta, GA - Lakewood Amphitheatre *

* with R.E.M, the National