File under ‘strange but true’: Johnny Marr has officially joined Modest Mouse.

Seems an odd fit, at best…but at least the members of Modest Mouse acknowledge how ridiculously blessed they are to have landed the famed former Smiths guitarist:

In an interview with “Rolling Stone,” Brock said Marr “made a cautious commitment to write and record with us, and then the tighter we got, he was like ‘OK, let’s tour too.'”

Modest Mouse, with newby Marr, will tour in support of their forthcoming album, “We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank,” which Marr helped write and record.

Brock told “Rolling Stone” that after the decision to have Marr tour with the Modest Mouse, “he was pretty much a member of the band—not pretty much. He’s a full blown member of the band. It’s really fuckin’ nice.”

Really fuckin’ nice. Still somewhat of an understatement (particularly since the phrase “lucky bastards” appears nowhere in that sentence)…but it’s a start.