It's been eight years since the last Modest Mouse album has hit stores, after the disappointing We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. But, over the past few weeks, singles from their forthcoming Strangers to Ourselves have been appearing online. While the songs I've heard have proven to be more of the same sanitized Modest Mouse we've come to except over the past decade, it's always nice to have some more Isaac Brock in our lives.

Perhaps it should come as no shock, then, that Brock - whose writing has frequently sparred with the vast mysteries of the universe - would find himself influenced by a night of unexplainable phenomena. As laid out in a recent interview on Studio 360, Brock recounts the flight he took to Phoenix in 1997 to master The Lonesome Crowded West. Apparently, the plane was grounded under mysterious circumstances, which he later realized were tied to the now-infamous Phoenix Lights, a notorious incident of UFO sightings. That night has now informed the latest single from Strangers, "The Best Room," about the hotel he was sequestered in while officials sorted out all the chaos.

While Modest Mouse might no longer be the mad genius underdog of the indie world, there's no doubt that Brock remains one of the more fascinating figures in American rock music. Now, if only he can turn that madness back toward the quality of his earlier work. ...

Choppie

Director Neil Blomkamp (District 9, Elysium) has been in the news quite a bit, recently, with announcements that he will be directing the next installment in the Alien franchise, and he admits maybe, sorta fucked up the landing with Elysium. All of this is coming in anticipation of his third studio feature, Chappie. So, how does it look?

Judging by the trailer, Chappie is refreshingly multi-cultural, featuring British, American, South African, and Australian actors - gasp! - using their actual accents. Centering around the world's first sentient robot, and the rest of the world's fight to destroy it, it feels like a hyper-violent take on WALL-E. Weirdest of all, though, is the presence of Ninja and Yolandi of rap provocateurs Die Antwoord.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Part of The Grand Cinema's Tuesday film series, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night continues the trend - as epitomized by Only Lovers Left Alive - of the "vampires hanging out" film genre. The Iranian/American film centers around a ghost town in Iran called Bad City, and the lonely vampire that haunts it. If it's anything like the sumptuous Only Lovers Left Alive, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night is not to be missed. 1:15 and 6:25 p.m., Tuesday, March 10, The Grand Cinema, 606 S. Fawcett Ave., Tacoma, $5.50-$9, 253.593.4474