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Album review: Cursive
By Cassie Hood
hoodc@mscd.edu

Cursive Happy Hollow (Saddle Creek, 2006)

America is at war not only with other countries but with itself. Citizens want to oust immigrants, government officials want to tell people how to have Christian, moral lives, and neighborhoods want to get rid of homeless shelters, thus ridding cities of the poor. Cursive’s newest concept album, Happy Hollow, loosely comments on these quandaries plaguing the American people.

Happy Hollow focuses on religious hypocrisy and broken dreams by telling the personal stories of fictional characters. From a priest that impregnates a young girl whose boyfriend is at war in “At Conception,” to how Dorothy’s return from Oz gave her nothing more than dreams in “Dorothy at Forty,” the album illustrates the way many Americans feel. Cursive not only tells stories through their music, they make the listener feel along with their characters.

In “Dorothy Dreams of Tornados,” singer Tim Kasher’s shrill vocals and mordant lyrics snag the listener’s empathy, and then mix with a squealing saxophone and strident trumpet. The result is sudden, startling explosions of emotion. The anger in Kasher’s voice is augmented by the horns, and the song fairly bursts with resentment.

“Hymns for the Heathen” comes off as sarcastic and somewhat silly due to its playful guitar riffs and hurried trumpet blasts. Kasher’s vocals flirtatiously spring from place to place as he tells examples of hypocrisy in the Bible. A steady drumbeat hits in off-beats against each word.

Not all the songs offer this infamous Cursive brashness. “So-So Gigolo” has a sexy, ‘70s porn feel to it, fitting for a song about a man that sells himself on the street. With deeper vocals and horns, the band expresses the desperation of a streetwalker. “Bad Science” has a frantic feel to it, but on it Kasher sounds like a high-pitched Elvis impersonator. Instead of growling, he smoothly expresses his anger about raising children according to a recipe.

Known for their concept albums, Cursive challenges themselves to be inventive with each new release. Their 2003 release The Ugly Organ was the best album of their career. Their hook there was a feverish cello and a dissonant organ. For Happy Hollow, the band replaced these with a set of horns. The switch works well because it gives the two albums different emotions, but Happy Hollow matches The Ugly Organ song for song when it comes to quality.