Cursive

The Ugly Organ (Saddle Creek)
by Tim Den

Like Sunny Day Real Estate, Cursive went through a massive transformation after breaking up and regrouping. But unlike SDRE, Cursive didn’t expand their previously-established palette of emo tag lines. Instead, the music got more chaotic – often extremely dissonant – bound by stretches of screaming and crooning that create a soundtrack-ish mood. Now even more enhanced by the addition of a full-time cellist, The Ugly Organ makes Hitchcockian tension out of barb-wire guitars, eruptive At The Drive-In energy, and a highly-strung sense of desperation. Whether the song calls for explosive distortion or quiet self-hatred, guitarist/keyboardist/vocalist Tim Kasher brings a mental patient-like element to the mix: Constantly boiling over, ready to overflow at any minute. The result is schizophrenia set to disconcerting insecurity issues, set forth on blistering songs that can switch from warm breezes to tidal waves at a finger snap. Simply awe-inspiring.
(PO Box 8554 Omaha, NE 68108)