In 1997, the music Gods delivered Radiohead’s OK Computer, which has since become the modern standard for rock albums.

That same year, Modest Mouse, an up-and-coming indie rock band from Issaquah, Wash., released a little album called Lonesome Crowded West. The album showed the band’s potential to flourish with an intelligent, creative sound but was also rough around the edges and lacked melodic hooks.

However, the band’s impressive guitar webbing and insightful vocal styling provided Modest Mouse with a major record label for its next release.

Three years later, in the year that also saw Radiohead’s remodeled style in Kid A, Modest Mouse released Moon and Antarctica, which stood atop the Mount Olympus of album rock with OK Computer.

Moon and Antarctica gave fans a more laid back, refined version of Modest Mouse’s sound. Singer, guitarist Isaac Brock maintained his raw energy but harnessed it in a more digestible form. His lyrics focused on the eternal themes of mortality, the cosmos, and identity without sounding contrived.

This fresh, genuine lyrical perspective was enhanced by the intricate and polished production of Brian Deck. The album sports endless layers of raw and treated sounds that swirl together into an impressionist musical landscape. Add to the mix fluid, moody bass and playful, inventive drumming and the result is an album of near perfection.

While Thom York doubted Radiohead could ever produce another album like OK Computer, Moon and Antarctica set the bar at an intimidating height for any other Modest Mouse releases. With a masterpiece under their belts, the band would have to find a way to further develop its sound and present it in a cohesive package.

The years between 2000 and 2004 were turbulent for Modest Mouse as the band went through a dramatic lineup adjustment. Yet even under enormous pressure and bathing in tumultuous inner struggles, Modest Mouse still managed to release a credible follow up to Moon and Antarctica.

Good News for People Who Love Bad News opens with a brooding, sloppy horn intro by the Dirty Dozen Brass Band suggesting this album will defy conventional views of Modest Mouse’s sound. The intro quickly transitions into “The World at Large,” a song that finds Brock singing in a resigned tone that lingers throughout the album.

But even drenched with resignation, songs like “Float On” and “Diggin the Grave” are playful and bright. “Float On” finds Brock singing in a comfortable balance between his scrappy and forceful yell of Lonesome Crowded West and his subdued, introspective drawl of Moon and Antarctica.

And that’s what the album is: a balance between the abrasive, relatively straightforward indie-rock of Lonesome and the experimental dream of Moon. This is the result of a band that has already pushed its sound as far as it can go and reverts to a comfort zone. To be fair, even though Modest Mouse doesn’t really push the boundaries on Good News for People Who Love Bad News, the album does offer a new if not profound version of the band’s sound.

The guitar play is inventive and angular, the drums are crisp and energetic, the bass is as fluid as ever, and the keyboards are subtle but add texture to thicken the sound. The band also utilized the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, violins, organs, piano and other instruments to provide sonic diversity.

Even with all of its good qualities, Good News for People Who Love Bad News can’t compare with the profound, cohesive statement of Moon and Antarctica. Maybe the tone of resignation that weaves through the new release is a subtle recognition that the band simply cannot push its sound any further.

It’s nothing to be too upset about though. Good News for People Who Love Bad News is still a good listen. It’s only within the context of Modest Mouse’s trilogy of superb releases that makes this album a disappointment.

Grade: B