Modest Mouse sails to chart-topping debut

Modest Mouse landed the first Number One album of its career on Wednesday (March 28th) as the band's new disc, We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank, debuted in the top spot on the Billboard 200 chart. The CD sold 129,000 copies, which was more than double the group's previous best sales week. Modest Mouse's 2004 album, Good News For People Who Love Bad News, debuted at Number 19 with 68,000 copies sold. That CD eventually sold more than one million copies.

Good News... was a commercial breakthrough for Modest Mouse, after the group had spent more than 10 years as an indie rock favorite. Bassist Eric Judy told us that he thinks the band's often eccentric frontman, Isaac Brock, has handled success well: "I think so, yeah. Yeah, absolutely. You know, he's probably in that situation where he partly enjoys it, and it partly gets to him a bit too, you know, but he's, yeah, I would say he's weathering it well."

Modest Mouse will begin a North American tour in support of the new album on April 15th in Seattle, Washington.