Modest Mouse
Somewhere between Bikini Kill and the Killers, the genders traded eyeliner and the tag 'indie" was transmogrified from an abbreviation into an appellation. It's likely no band represents the genre's metamorphosis better than Modest Mouse: pariahs pounding out brash punk anthems in an Issaquah, Wash., shed in 1994; more popular than Brandon Walsh and Seth Cohen combined in 2004. If the crazy success of crossover Good News For People Who Love Bad News wasn't enough, the band enlisted legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr for 2007's We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (Epic) " rock's equivalent of the Yankees adding Randy Johnson after a 100-win season. Even with its new all-star, though, We Were Dead proved a middling affair, rarely approaching the pop strengths of the group's recent work or the epic thrash of early standard bearers Interstate 8 and The Lonesome Crowded West. But the surefire appearance of live-set mainstays 'Float On" and 'Ocean Breathes Salty" should be good news for people who just love Good News. Matt Costa opens. Tickets $33. — Noah Bonaparte Pais
8 p.m. Sat., Dec. 15
House of Blues, 225 Decatur St., 310-4999; www.hob.com
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