We attended Modest Mouse’s last show at the Santa Barbara Bowl for two reasons.  First, and foremost, was that Johnny Marr (of The Smiths–The Smiths!!) was lending his guitar magic to the band on its tour.  Second, was something about some bloke named Brock.  And that night Marr delivered in spades the je-ne-c’est-quoi that is his guitar mastery.  He has a sound all his own.  How does he do it?   No one knows how he wrangles the sounds he does from those six-string instruments and amps, and it’s just as well.

Comes now (all these post-Smiths years later) that Marr will soon release his first (what the heck took so long?) self-titled solo album.  To get a flavor, check out the first video for Messenger from the new album.  Wow.  Smiths/REM meets Nada Surf, and look out below.  We absolutely love it.