MORRISSEY may have hogged the headlines since the Smiths split in 1987, but this week Johnny Marr is celebrating a triumph that his former bandmate has never savoured. Working with his new band, the indie rockers Modest Mouse, the guitarist has gone straight to the top of the American album charts with We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank.

It is the first time Marr, whose family hails from Co Kildare, has had a No 1 record in the States and We We re Dead. . . has also topped the iTunes download chart and the Amazon chart. The album will be released in Ireland next week.

The Smiths never bettered No 55 in the US charts and Marr's highest position until now was with Electronic who reached No 40 in the singles chart with 'Getting Away With It'. Morrissey's highest positioned American album was You Are The Quarry in 2004, which reached No 11.

Marr, 43, said on his website: "It's great news. I knew we had written some really good songs and when we started recording I felt it was going to be a great record."

The band are currently on tour, and are due to visit this side of the Atlantic in May. "I really am enjoying playing the live shows, " Marr said.

"The songs have been going down so well even though people haven't heard them before. We're all very happy and looking forward to touring the world."

Marr joined Modest Mouse in America last year after they were looking for a guitarist with his kind of sound for a particular track and decided to approach the man himself. Both enjoyed the experience so much that he was subsequently confirmed as a fully signed-up band member and is co-writing songs with the singer, Isaac Brock.

The results have been well received by the critics. The Washington Post said of the new album: "Bolstered by the surprise addition of exSmiths guitarist Johnny Marr, Modest Mouse hits another commercial home run with its new album." The New York Daily News said: "It's MM's greatest feat to make songs this irked and angular sound so fetching." Q magazine said the album "will allay any fears that success has robbed Modest Mouse of their intrinsic weirdness".

The album's success is a huge personal triumph for Manchester-born Marr, whose parents both hail from Co Kildare. He was acclaimed as the finest guitar player of his generation when the Smiths were at the height of their glory in the 1980s, but has dipped in and out of the limelight since.

Modest Mouse have enjoyed significant success since they were formed in 1993. Their 2004 album Good News For People Who Love Bad News sold 1.5 million copies and earned the band two Grammy nominations.