The New York Times, I am beginning to discover, are decently awesome indie rock critics. Their Arts page has album review on Tuesdays (which makes sense, seeing as albums, for some unknown reason which I am sure relates to the international Jewish conspiracy, always come out on . . . Tuesday); they almost always review indie albums. Last week it was The Thrills, The Sleepy Jackson, and Super Furry Animals. They also reviewed the Siren music festival and commented on the bands' tendency to imitate previous genres (Datsuns=slick seventies metal; The Kills=blues rock); then it mentioned how Modest Mouse was the anamoly, "an old-fashioned indie-rock band from the days before all the new bands wanted to sound like old bands."

Pardon me while I quote something beautiful.

"For better and for worse Isaac Brock is a front man who seems to live in a world of his own invention, a place where folk music means grinding dissonance and off-kilter riffs and sudden musical shifts and shouted rants . . .. (H)is best songs can make you feel as if you're peering into a vast, weird world full of warped parables and cryptic observations.

"While the other acts wanted to inspire a dance party, it seemed Mr. Brock wanted to inspire a mass delusion. . .."