Modest Mouses The Moon & Antarctica (33 1/3)

In 1999, Modest Mouse headed to Chicago to record their major-label debut for Epic Records. Amid the crushing expectation of delivering a commercially viable record, chants of "sellout!", a completely inexperienced producer, a half-built studio, and an incomplete group of songs, the band began to put down the basics for a few tracks.

Then, Isaac Brock got his face smashed by a stranger in a park, leaving his mouth wired shut. Everyone left town except Brock and an intern. On a diet of painkillers and booze, a creative alchemy took place that would utterly redefine Modest Mouse, and just maybe indie music at large.

This is a story that begins with a "Fuck You, Cowboy!" and a broken jaw, and ends with Isaac Brock ripping the wires from his mouth in a hotel room with a Leatherman―and, of course, "hands-down one of the greatest records ever made" (NME).