This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About is the debut studio album by American rock band Modest Mouse. It was released on April 16, 1996, through Up Records.
Brandon Gentry of AllMusic explains that the album's tracks alternate between "slow, brooding numbers" and "thrashing guitar workouts." The album's instrumentation incorporates mandolin, slide guitar, and cello to augment the band's traditional indie rock configuration.[5]
Lyrically, many of the album's tracks focus on traveling by automobile and the loneliness associated with rural life, which Gentry delineated as "emotional and geographic isolation."[5] According to Ryan Schreiber of Pitchfork, the album's lyrics "appear completely stream-of-consciousness."
The Albuquerque Tribune called the album "intricate, brainy pop sneaking back into old-time ballads, honky-tonk slide and folk pluck."[11]Robert Christgau remarked that Modest Mouse are "so insularly indie they're incomprehensible to anyone who hasn't been softened up by Wowee Zowee and the Meat Puppets".[2] Brandon Gentry of AllMusic gave the album four stars out of five, and wrote: "In general, This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About is a fine album, and Modest Mouse distinguishes itself here with songs whose meanings are simultaneously universal and painfully personal."[5] Ryan Schreiber of Pitchfork wrote: "The only problem with this record is that it's impossible to get all the way through it because it's over 70 minutes long. And the vinyl version actually has more songs. There are few bands who can pull that off and honestly, Modest Mouse is not one of 'em. But I guess if they've got the studio time, a little extra music never hurt anybody."[12]
