Modest Mouse

One of the more unlikely (yet at the same time, more deserving) indie-rock bands to crack the alternative-rock mainstream last decade, Modest Mouse charmed the country with their ode to optimism “Float On” in 2004, then continued to make the same weird and ornery hobo-rock epics they’d been recording since the mid-’90s. Singer Isaac Brock is currently penning songs for a follow-up to 2007’s We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, the album that temporarily introduced former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr to Modest Mouse’s lineup, though Brock’s said in interviews it’s unlikely he’ll be ready to debut any of the new material on this tour. (Arrive early to the Miller Lite Oasis tonight for an 8 p.m. set from Avi Buffalo, a young indie-pop band that released its aching, self-titled debut on Sub Pop this spring.)