Modest Mouse reaches No. 1 on Billboard’s Alternative Airplay chart in a third decade with “We Are Between,” which rises 2-1 on the ranking dated Aug. 21.
The track follows “Float On,” the Isaac Brock-led band’s breakthrough single and first ruler, for a week in 2004, and “Lampshades on Fire” (three weeks, 2015) as Modest Mouse’s Alternative Airplay No. 1s.
Modest Mouse is the second act to ascend to No. 1 on Alternative Airplay in the 2000s, ’10s and ’20s, and the second in a row; Weezer’s “All My Favorite Songs” drops to No. 3 after four weeks on top. Weezer boasts three No. 1s in the ’00s, one in the ’10s and two in the ’20s. (One other act has placed at No. 1 in all three decades: Coldplay, whose fourth leader, “Orphans,” reached the summit in 2019 and remained on top for two weeks in 2020.)
Modest Mouse can now set its sights on a feat it has until Dec. 31, 2039, to achieve: Alternative Airplay No. 1s in four distinct decades. Only Green Day has earned the honor since the chart began in September 1988, with leaders in the ’90s, ’00s, ’10s and ’20s.
“Between” led Adult Alternative Airplay for seven weeks beginning in June. It holds at its No. 4 high on the all-rock-format, audience-based Rock & Alternative Airplay chart, with 4.9 million audience impressions, according to MRC Data. The song also hit No. 33 in July on the multi-metric Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart. In addition to its radio presence, it earned 359,000 U.S. streams in the Aug. 6-12 tracking week.
“Between” is the lead single from The Golden Casket, Modest Mouse’s seventh studio set. It debuted at its No. 7 peak on the Alternative Albums chart in July and has earned 26,000 equivalent album units to date.
