As a live act, with two drum kits and, at one point, six people participating in percussion, Modest Mouse is definitely driven by its rhythm section. At Thursday night’s show, it was impressive to watch the complementing drummers pound away, working to coordinate seemingly disparate sonic elements into the cohesive sound that is Modest Mouse.

But then Isaac Brock chimed in with some vocals and the whole thing, unfortunately, sort of broke apart.

Usually, it is Brock who is driving the music. His lyrics and voice emit emotion that is both honest and unsettling. This is the signature of MM. But Thursday he and the rest of the band seemed too preoccupied attempting to recreate the studio production of their latest album, Good News for People Who Like Bad News, to actually come together as a musical unit.

During songs such as "Float On" and "The World At Large," band members industriously ran around the stage tapping out keyboard licks and the odd extra bass line while also attending to the main structure of the songs. Maybe this can work, and for some bands it probably does, but the athleticism of it all seemed daunting and inhibitive.

Where MM shined was when playing songs from earlier albums and simpler songs. "Satin in a Coffin" was the first tune where all elements gelled, and that was half-way into the two-and-a-half hour show. Brock pulled out the old banjo and played convincingly against a stand-up base. The song marched along beautifully and Abercrombie-clad kids danced happily in the aisles. But then the song fell apart by ending abruptly and painfully.

This, however, was typical. Throughout the entire show there was not a single transition between songs. There is obvious talent on stage, but the gruff stop-and-go play made MM more resemble a high school garage band, than the much-hyped alt-rock group they are.

MM did recover some on "The View" by connecting loudly and emotionally with the audience. Brock’s lyrics were able to make it clear through the poor vocal mic, and the song wrapped up tightly, as opposed to suddenly.

The culmination of MM’s playing was also the culmination of the encore: "Tiny Cities Made of Ashes" off of the album The Moon & Antarctica. The playing on this song demonstrated the ability that MM songs can make that sonic, almost jam-like, translation from studio to stage, in much the same way the Smashing Pumpkins were able to with their songs. MM just needs to give themselves more playing room to let the songs breathe. Everything felt so confined like when they butchered this DCist’s favorite song, "Black Cadillacs." It sounded like a car crash.

Despite the faults, this DCist can’t wait to see them again when MM is not beholden to Good News, from which the majority of songs were played, and when the band hopefully eschews the trappings of the studio sound that allowed them to break through and just be the band they are.

(Image from nonogirl.com)