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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
No One's First, And You're Next

Generally favorable reviews
Based on 11 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 14 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Sony
Release Date: 04 August 2009
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rock, Indie, Alternative
Summary
Modest Mouse releases an album with tracks from the "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank" and "Good News for People Who Love Bad News" recording sessions.
Also By This Artist: Good News For People Who Love Bad News Sad Sappy Sucker The Moon & Antarctica We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site Official Artist Site (Epic)
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
MSN Consumer Guide (Robert Christgau)
"Perpetual Motion Machine" is about fish who wish they could walk so they could find out how it feels to fall down, and "Whale Song" bemoans Brock's metaphorical uselessness as it demonstrates his capacity for beauty.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club)
So while it doesn’t exactly have the cohesive through-line of Modest Mouse’s epic full-lengths, No One’s First still captures solid energy from a band riding a long-ass peak.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Growing more comfortable with their talents, maybe they’re learning that you don’t always have to work so hard and worry so much. Sometimes, you can just float on.
Read Full Review >Delusions of Adequacy
These supposed table scraps left off their previous two albums, Good News… and We Were… respectively, run a gauntlet that finds the band revitalized, lively and tremendously wonderful.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
Beyond the banjo-brushed lullaby 'Autumn Beds' and the laser show-ready 'The Whale Song,' it's a bumpy ride. Bless them for never being boring, though.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Given its years-spanning tracklist, No One's First obviously has a retrospective flavor, but it also seems to point the way ahead for Modest Mouse, if only to suggest that the band will continue moving in opposite directions--backwards and forwards--all at once.
Read Full Review >NOW Magazine
This collection of B-sides, recorded over the past few years, is way more put-together than Modest Mouse’s previous rarities comps, Building Nothing Out Of Something and Sad Sappy Sucker. But it lacks the carefree charm of Isaac Brock’s pre-success indie rock experiments.
Read Full Review >New Musical Express
‘The Whale Song’ may offer a solitary crumb for old skool Micers to nibble, but unfortunately this EP will not offer much else.
Read Full Review >No Ripcord
As a collection of odds and ends, No One’s First… is a necessarily disjointed album. It’s alternately disappointingly simple and refreshingly unique from song to song, torn between country, radio rock and classic Modest Mouse.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
Boring when they're not acting out, but too jarring when hitting their groove, Brock and company are forced to toe a finicky line between normalcy and absurdity.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Each of these eight leftovers can be divided into rote, by-the-numbers Modest Mouse rock jams and meandering pseudo-experiments that feel, uncharacteristically and disappointingly, like nothing more than filler.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 8.7 (out of 10) based on 14 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
G T gave it a1:
Why does Modest Mouse continue to make random, aimless songs?
Ryan gave it an8:
There are 8 songs here, which is unusual for an EP, and a nice surprise. I really like all of them and am pretty baffled by the negative, published reviews. It seems like Modest Mouse got too big and receive negative reviews for just doing good work. This EP isn't amazing, but there are 8 very solid songs here. They're fun and scattered. But like another reviewer pointed out, it's an EP not an LP and the songs originated over the period of two studio albums.
Quinn gave it a9:
I can't believe some of those reviews came from magazines where people have jobs...yet don't understand what an EP is. Obviously it's going to be a bit all over, especially when it happens to be the leftovers of two extremely different albums released a few years apart. When it's all said and done the extra release of these tracks is appreciated, and although I have the king rat vinyl and the dashboard single cd it also came on, I'm happy it is on a studio release EP as it will be one of the greatest songs they ever write in their career already spanning 16 amazing years.
Lynnie gave it a9:
It's great. King Rat is something else. So darn great.
m xl gave it a9:
They can call it a filler and they can say that it only goes to show modest is only goin forward and backward at the same time musically but i dont see how either is a bad thing. a filler from these guys is an f'ing blessing and how can you not love a band that so unpredictable? ya never know how it can get better until you are actually there, witnessing or listening to it as its first coming.
Glenn P. gave it a10:
9.5, but I can't, so I rounded up. Wish it was an LP, and not an EP, but I can't complain about that. Unfortunately, this means we now have to wait another 10000+ years for more Modest Mouse.
Joe B. gave it a10:
Amazing!
