W.T.F. Modest Mouse?

Writer's note: I'll update this will a full review once I get my notes and my face isn't so red.

I came to see Modest Mouse last night at the Xcel Center and left wondering if I'll ever want to see them play again. This "period" they're in reminds me a lot of how great bands got lost in the muddled and drugged 80s. Isaac's supposedly quit heavy drugs, but maybe he needs to pop a few pills and cut the dead weight (the extra three members of the band). That had to be - bar none - the band's lowpoint. A stale, tired set barely got my knee tapping (Paper-thin Walls was the tapping exception). Johnny Marr struck me as "prince-like" note the lower-case p. He prances and skips around, strumming every now and then, seemingly waiting to collect his paycheck. The jig is up, hopefully the rouse that is the current incarnation of Modest Mouse will also end soon.
The National, however, blew me away. I did not dig their stuff before but - Wow. What a closing triumvirate of songs.