Isaac Brock Begs You to Come to His “Ice Cream Party” on Modest Mouse’s New Single

The six-minute odyssey is full of hazy feedback, spooky flute melodies and Brock repeating the line, "There's an ice cream party in my house/Please come over."

IMAGE: James Joiner.
By Shannon Gormley

Since their early-aughts heyday, it's seemed like Modest Mouse have been doubling down on loopiness with each release.

Today, the Portland-based band released a video for their new single, "Ice Cream Party," a dark, trippy song about, well, an ice cream party. The six minute odyssey is full of hazy feedback, spooky flute melodies and frontman Isaac Brock repeating the line, "There's an ice cream party in my house/Please come over."  "The video is an kaleidoscopic collage of melting dairy, ballon animals, pink elephants and some vaguely creepy clowns.

(It should be noted that "Ice Cream Party" is also the name of Brock's Portland studio and hangout, located in an old check-printing factory in Goose Hollow.)

Related: Welcome to Turdlania: A guide to Isaac Brock's Portland.

The band teased the single three days ago with a mysterious countdown on their website and a post on Reddit that linked to Ruby Jewel's Northwest Portland location.

Modest Mouse hasn't released an album since 2015's Strangers to Ourselves. Though they have yet to announce detail on their next album, "Ice Cream Party" is the third song the band has released this year. The new single follows March's "Poison the Well" and April's "I'm Still Here."

But it's not like Brock hasn't been busy. Modest Mouse is currently on tour with the Black Keys. And last year, Brock opened Kerns bar Poison's Rainbow, where he can sometimes be found tending to his terrarium collection behind the bar.

Modest Mouse will play Moda Center with the Black Keys on November 22.

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