I got into Modest Mouse after hearing Float On, a song I'll always love because it gets me through bad times. After that, though, I got all their older material and just got lost in it - some incredible, incredible stuff. Good News sounds more straightforward to me - not as many interesting, spacey guitar sounds. There's also more of a country or folk or rockabilly feel to it - banjo, horns, even the way Brock sings. I have been listening to the album on repeat the last couple of weeks, after about a month stuck on Lonesome Crowded West and Sad Sappy Sucker. Individually, a number of the songs dont impress me like older MM songs, but when listened to together it's all really solid.
I think We Were Dead and Strangers to Ourselves each have a handful of decent songs but for me are much, much weaker albums. Like most super loyal fans, I'd like to hear more stuff along the lines of Whale Song, Spitting Venom, and Parting of the Sensory. The more obviously poppy songs aren't very compelling or interesting to me. Isaac can and will do whatever the hell he wants, though.
Here's a fav live version of Dramamine. Song starts around 2:40.
