Sunday 30 June 2013

CURSIVE

This post's artist is from the May 2013 Mix, this is track #21.

Band: CURSIVE
Genres: Indie Rock / Emo / Punk
Related artists: Criteria, The Good Life, and Tim Kasher.
Country: Omaha, USA
Years Active: 1995-present
Song: "The Recluse"
Album: "The Ugly Organ"
Year: 2003
For fans of: Criteria, Bear vs. Shark, Alkaline Trio, Desaperacidos, Bright Eyes, Down With the Butterfly, Choke, and Horace Pinker.

Anyone who devotes themselves to punk and/or rock music, how could you NOT know this band? People have been discussing frontman Tim Kasher and his lyrics like teenage girls discuss shitty boy-bands. for well over a decade. He's a very polarizing character. When listening to Cursive's early material, it is obvious he's still searching for his voice. At this point of his life he is married. Then around the time of 'Domestica' his marriage is ending. Post-Ugly Organ shows Kasher accepting himself, his faults, his divorce and finding his true voice. I'll be honest, I think the two albums I just mentioned are the band's best work, but everything recorded afterwards is still great.

If you've never heard CURSIVE before, prepare for something different. Kasher's voice is dipped in alcohol, smoke and insight(the liquid kind). If anything might give first-time listeners an issue, I presume it would be his voice. If you can handle the vocals on 'Domestica' then you're in the clear. He sounds like an emo teenager at times, but with a much deeper voice, mildly drunk and wailing away. The instrumentals are also very interesting - especially with the off-time/note plucking on everything pre-Ugly Organ. On 'The Ugly Organ' and everything afterwards, CURSIVE incorporates horns, cellos, violins - the works, but only on select tracks.

I have included audio to each of my favourite songs from youtube. Enjoy, you sexy readers.
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1996 -  The Disruption 7"

1997 - Such Blinding Stars For Starving Eyes cd/12"LP
1997 - Silver Scooter split cd/10"ep
1997 - The Icebreaker 7"
1997 - Sucker and Dry 7"

1998 - The Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of Song cd/12"LP

2000 - Domestica cd/12"LP

2001 - Burst and Bloom cd/12"ep
2001 - Small Brown Bike split 7"

2002 - 8 Teeth to Eat You - Eastern Youth split cd/ep

2003 - The Ugly Organ cd/12"LP
2003 - Art is Hard single cd/7" (+ The Ugly Organ b-sides)

2004 - The Recluse single cd/7" (+ The Ugly Organ b-sides)
2004 - Art is Hard/The Recluse 10" picture disc

2005 - The Difference Between Houses and Homes cd/12"LP (out-of-print collection)
2005 - Lagniappe cd compilation (contributed "Ten Percent to the Ten Percent")

2006 - Happy Hollow cd/12"LP
2006 - Dorothy at Forty cd/7" single (+ Happy Hollow b-sides)

2007 - Bad Sects 12"single (+ 3 other song versions)

2009 - Mama, I'm Swollen cd/12"LP
2009 - Ladyfinger (NE) split 10"ep picture disc

2012 - I Am Gemini cd/12"LP
2012 - The Sun and Moon 10" picture disc (+ I Am Gemini b-sides)

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These are listed chronologically, so remember, the first link is the band's OLDER MATERIAL!!!
youtube )))))embedded official video / audio((((( links

(1998) CURSIVE - "When Summer's Over Will We Dream of Spring" (from 'The Early Storms of Summer: Semantics of Song' cd)

(2000) CURSIVE - "Making Friends and Acquaintencs" (from 'Domestica' cd)

(2001) CURSIVE - "Sink to the Beat" (from 'Burst and Bloom' cd)

(2003) CURSIVE - "Driftwood: A Fairy Tale" (from 'The Ugly Organ' cd)

(2006) CURSIVE - "Bad Sects" (from 'Happy Hollow' cd)

(2009) CURSIVE - "Let Me Up" (from 'Mama, I'm Swollen' cd) MUSIC VIDEO

(2012) CURSIVE - "Wowowow" (from 'I Am Gemini' cd)
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2 comments:

  1. Top five favorite bands ever.
    Great review

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks, Paul! Do you like Kasher`s solo material?

      Delete