Modest Mouse
with The Flaming Lips
Coca-Cola Roxy, Atlanta • August 1, 2025
by Roi Tamkin
Back in the late ’90s, my friend dragged me to The Point, a bar in Atlanta, to see his favorite band: Modest Mouse. I thought they sounded weird. “You like this band?” I asked, questioning his musical tastes. He just grinned. I couldn’t wait to get out of the bar.
In 2004, Modest Mouse released their fourth studio album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News, and everyone liked this band. Twenty one years later, everyone still loves this band.
On the first Friday in August, the sold-out Coca-Cola Roxy hosted Modest Mouse and The Flaming Lips. Moms, dads, teenagers, and a bevy of Gen-Xers all came out to hear two bands from the ’90s play their favorite songs spanning three decades.
Modest Mouse did not disappoint the intergenerational crowd. They played a mix of their trademark jaunty, upbeat musical pieces, adding the slower “Fire it Up” near the beginning of their set. Singer/lyricist/guitarist Isaac Brock led the five other multi-instrumentalists through popular songs such as “Bukowski,” “We are Between,” and “Float On,” with the audience singing along, creating happy vibes throughout the Roxy. Isaac slipped on a banjo for the jazzy “King Rat” and the folk-Americana sound of “Bukowski,” while the keyboard player played the upright bass with a bow and the bass player donned an acoustic guitar.
For his part, Isaac stood before the microphone, bobbling his head as he blurted out lyrics that question the deity, describe self-destructive tendencies, and detail the difficulties of living while somehow still remaining optimistic. No doubt, many people can identify with the songs and the struggles they represent.
Isaac’s songs share the same emotional depth as The Flaming Lips, though his delivery differs. His pronouncements, “we swim like rats on fire,” “nine times out of ten our hearts get dissolved,” and “we are mirrors of our own fault,” strike action in all of us that demands reaction.
Although The Flaming Lips share the same lyrical themes as Modest Mouse, their approach is nothing short of an all out over-sensory attack on the audience. Right from the get-go, we got a taste of what was to come. They opened with an instrumental, the musicians silhouetted by a giant projection screen that played psychedelic images on loop. Multi-colored lasers scanned the Roxy interior space just above our heads.
Soon, four large evil-robot balloons were inflated before our eyes, and Wayne Coyne appeared on stage. The band kicked it into overdrive with “Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, Pt. 1” with everyone on their feet. The floorboards were bouncing as hard as Wayne, with people jumping up and down, singing along, and in full party mode. The Flaming Lips put on a high-energy aural and visual extravaganza. There are people in costumes, inflatable props, giant eyeballs, and silver dancing alien-things, with cannons firing enough confetti to pack the State of Liberty and fill up every available inch of space in the venue.
Wayne refused to allow the rave to stop, with his commanding “C’mon, c’mon, c’mon… scream!” in between each song. The band moved seamlessly through the set list with “Turn It On”, “Five Stop Mother Superior Rain” (with the guitarist playing lap steel guitar), and a tribute to Daniel Johnston, covering his “True Love Will Find You in the End.” The non-stop energy continued with “Waiting for Superman,” with Wayne wearing a Wonder Woman costume draped over his clothes. The band moved into fan favorites “She Don’t Use Jelly” and “Do You Realize??” closing the set.
They returned to the stage for an encore, bringing out Isaac Brock and breaking into the heavy sounds of Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.” Wayne and Isaac sang alternating lines as the band played flawlessly — as they had all night. The night wrapped up with “Race for the Prize,” as all that confetti magically corkscrewed its way to the floor.
Both bands play as tight, professional units with light banter between songs. Both bands lyrically probe the emotional terrain of loss and grief and then bring us out from all this heaviness into joy.
Modest Mouse will be joining Built to Spill on tour this fall. I feel the pairing with The Flaming Lips is the best fit. Although musically different, they are actually quite similar, with the message that we will overcome these anxious and burden-laden emotions that grip us now (and did in the ’90s, too). We can defeat this feeling of dread and come out on the other side as better people.
Whether we float on or realize life goes fast, these two bands combined will give you happiness for at least one night. ◼
