The Giant Panther

I wonder how many music blog posts are inspired by throwing Itunes on shuffle. I hadn't heard Ugly Casanova in a long time, and when "Parasites" came up today, I decided to write on this album in case it had slipped through the cracks for anybody out there. When it popped up, I was ready for a Modest Mouse tune, then a few seconds later when the fake horn synth line appeared seemingly from a late 90s rap song, I knew it was Ugly Casanova

Ugly Casanova was/is Isaac Brock's (Modest Mouse) side project, along with Tim Rutili (Califone, Red Red Meat), Pall Jenkins (The Black Heart Procession), John Orth (Holopaw), and Brian Deck. You can read the full story here. They only made one album back in 2002, Sharpen Your Teeth, but it was a damn fine one. While it has obvious similarities to Modest Mouse, there are some differences, the major being a lot more synth.

I'd be willing to bet that most indie music fans put Isaac Brock's songwriting up there among the top, and while he does share writing duties with the other members of Ugly Casanova, Sharpen Your Teeth is not without it's pure Isaac Brock moments of zen.

One of my favorite lines from Sharpen Your Teeth is from "Hotcha Girls".. "Smells like autumn, smells like leaves, you don't know that you'll rust and not belong so much and then get left alone. Suck it up, take a ride, take a walk, and don't you know that old folks homes smell so much like my own."

MP3: Ugly Casanova - Hotcha Girls
Ugly Casanova's Website
Buy Sharpen Your Teeth

"So long to the holidays is a 6 minute drone that does a lot with a little. I'm pretty sure the ant from "Honey I Shrunk the Kids" adds some vocals at the end.

MP3: Ugly Casanova - So Long To The Holidays
Ugly Casanova's Website
Buy Sharpen Your Teeth