Customer Reviews

Happy Hollow

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Leave it to Cursive to always find something to be angry about. Since the band's inception, they have always had a taste for putting people in their places, culminating with their 2003 modern rock masterpiece, "The Ugly Organ." As one familiar with Cursive would undoubtedly anticipate, "Happy Hollow" picks up this trend and runs with it, finding new targets for Tim Kasher's biting lyrics along the way. Though arguably less angry this time around, Kasher's undeniable ability to craft targeted tongue-in-cheek attacks on his victim of choice maintains its role as one of this band's most-admirable traits. This time around, Kasher largely places the ex-wives and ex-lovers aside, focusing much of his lyrically demeaning material on the Catholic church, war, and America.

From just the opening note of the lead-off track, "Opening the Hymnal/Babies," one should easily identify a stark contrast between "Happy Hollow" and its predecessor: horns. Yes, as it turns out, Cursive has lost its cello player between albums and decided to fill that void with some intense hornage (my own word, but it's fitting). It's a tough loss for Cursive fans like myself who recognize the fact that the cello in "The Ugly Organ" practically made the album as great as it was. However, despite this loss, Cursive still manages to play their hearts out, quite possibly out-rocking "The Ugly Organ" in the process. That being said, "Babies" (the non-intro part of the opening-track) fully utilizes the horns in such a way that it will undoubtedly excite the listener, forcing them to devote all attention to what is being heard.

The next track, "Dorothy at Forty," is the band's first single from the album, and for good reason. If any one song captures the focus and passion of the album, its this one, portraying a head-on collision between the American dream and reality while alluding to "The Wizard of Oz." One can practically feel Kasher's passion as he proclaims, "Dreams are all you have. Dreams have held you back. Dreamers never live, only dream of it." The loss of the American dream is the first of several themes presented in this album. Even the artwork and album title portray a picturesque, romanticized America, rather than reality. It's a fine point, and one that will be explored further in the album.

The next song on the album, "Big Bang," is the first direct attack on the Catholic church, in this case, regarding the creation/evolution debate. Lines like "There was this big bang once but the clergyman doesn't agree" are sure to ruffle a few feathers, while the line "It don't jive with Adam and Eve, idyllic garden, some talking snake giving apples away. What would that snake say if he could only see us today?" is sure to shut a few of those opponents up. Sure, the lyrics in this song can be a bit unnerving to a few people, but the music itself is explosive! The new horns are at their finest on this song as they render practically every other instrument in the song negligible. This anti-religious theme can be seen elsewhere on the album, primarily in "Bad Sects" and the undeniably creepy "At Conception," which tells the tale of a priest who counsels a troublesome young girl. Don't be surprised if your skin crawls as Kasher nonchalantly sings "What happens in confession stays in the confessional." Clearly there's some animosity here, but its the passion derived from this animosity that separates the album and the band from so many of its contemporaries.

Another subject that is brought up during the course of the album is war. While thoughts like "Oh not another one," "It's getting old," or "Musicians are largely uneducated people who have never been in the military and therefore should not be making bold statements on a subject on which they know little or nothing about" may fill your head with just the mention of a song against war, relax. Of course, Cursive isn't about to sing the Bush administration's praises, but they never call any politicians out. Instead they remain focused on Americans, lost in the imaginary American dream. "Flag and Family" tells the story of a young man who feels pressure to join the military from his town, his family, and his girlfriend. Sure, he calls her family (and in all likelihood, anyone who shares their opinions) "bigots and fanatics," but a line like "When you're down on your knees are you praying for Holy War?" is full of such subtle greatness that its hard to write Kasher off as a narrow-minded, bleeding-heart liberal. Consider the fact that the band has its roots in Omaha, Nebraska, and the possibility that Kasher might have some insight on the small town citizens that he describes becomes somewhat authoritative.

It should come as no surprise to any Cursive fan that "Happy Hollow" is one heck of an album. Like its predecessor, the album is full of angst, passion, and musicality that help set it apart from so many other bands today. Though a bit longer than "The Ugly Organ," and arguably, more unfocused, this album is anything but unsatisfying. For anyone holding out for a new masterpiece from Cursive, wait no more!

Recommended for fans of Cursive and for anyone looking for inspiration on how to direct their anger in a non-violent, yet satisfying manner.

Key Tracks:
1. "Dorothy at Forty"
2. "Big Bang"
3. "Flag and Family"
4. "At Conception"
5. "Bad Science"

4 out of 5 Stars

Cursive does it again, this album is another masterpiece. But it is not without its flaws. It would be a 5 out of 5 if compared to most other bands and their records, but when compared to Cursive's other work it doesn't do as well. Some "die-hard" Cursive fans (which I consider myself) find the album to be a dissapointing break from the older, shall we say, harshness that the previous releases have. Cursive's previous albums where the songs-about-relationships-love-and-lose-self-pity albums. The reason most of these stood out to me was Kasher's witty lyrics, his sarcasim was so well placed. On Happy Hollow he has moved from the love and lose standpoint to the criticism of Religion and the society around us. Now Kasher does these topics justice with his lyrics, much more than most any other band, but the subject has gotten trite. I know you are probably thinking "but singing about girls and ect.ect. is just as cliche...." but I really enjoyed Tim's perspective. This new album is just a witty renovation of the age-old "Church is corrupt, religion is bad, what have you.." argument. Some have said if you don't like the lyrics then you must be some brainwashed religious person (Oh no!) but this statement is totally ridiculous and hypocritical. To me the subject has gotten boring and I would have rather heard more of Tim's usual writing.

The change in the music style is great in my opinion. My favorite album is Domestica, but HH, The Ugly Organ, and Burst and Bloom have all been fantastic records that experiment with breaking away from the "traditional" Cursive sound. Happy Hollow has moved them further away from the old CDs soundwise, but is their most melodic and "catchy" album to date. I use these terms not in the "Hey Panic! at the Disco is catchy and melodic way" but in the "This sounds like Cursive's Fugazi-inspired post-hardcore but is layered with hooks and melody that make it so good without being to 'poppy'". All in all a more accessible record yet it still retains the essence of Cursive. I recommend it.

Note: I'm not 13, Amazon isn't letting me post my reviews normally.

I'm not going to rate this album based on LYRICS of a MUSICAL album, even though I do enjoy the lyrics very much.

First of all, Cursive has been a heavily progressing band, Happy Hollow being their most experimental album yet to be released. In HH, you'll be able to hear punk, jazz, blues, electronic rock, and just really anthemic music. This is the most pronounced Cursive album... it just begs to be played loud in your car. No longer is there a cellist, but instead to fill the former member's place, there are horns, lots of horns... and it sets the band in their own seclusion away from a lot of the other indie groups. Proving once more that Cursive is one of the most influencial bands of modern music. You get operatic songs such as At Conception with beautifully harmonizing backing vocals, to bombastic punk-outfit Flag and Family, to really jazzy styles like Retreat!.

Favorite tracks off Happy Hollow:

1. Bad Science (The Bible Belt Tightens)
2. So-So Gigolo (The Demons of Mary Magdalene)
3. Big Bang (The Treestump of Knowledge)
4. Dorothy Dreams of Tornadoes (Sodom Falls to Ashes)
5. Rise Up! Rise Up! (Hiding in Confessions)

Highly recommended.

I have only listened to this once so far and it is excellent. The Ugly Organ is also a good album and I love how dark and creepy sounding it is. This is pretty much the exact opposite - much more light and airy sounding - as well as very inventive. As an agnostic, the subject matter of the album is totally appealing to me. Those who bash this CD for its lyrical content are probably of the brainwashed religious variety and I wouldn't take their opinions into consideration. Basically, this CD deals a lot with religion so if you think you will be offended, it's probably better you just didn't listen. On the other hand, it's also worth it just for the progress the band has made from Ugly Organ.

I have been following Cursive and most of Tim Casher's side projects for a while now. I'm very impressed with his willingness to risk his band's reputation with a great disparity in sounds from album to album. While mostly garnering praise from loyal fans, there are a few (along with some newbies) that cry foul by citing works of previous bands. I don't deny the possibility of influence, but I think there is definitely an additional creativity and passion put into the music that at the very least is admirable, if not evolutionary.

This album is a giant leap into a different direction as far as sound. Whether it's forward, backwards, to the right or left...you can be the judge. In my oppinion, it's just as great as any of their other albums and if I had to describe it...I would say it's a blend of older Cursive, Good Life(his other band), Rocket from the Crypt and a splash of just plain "newness".

Cursive is one of my favorite bands and I was looking forward to Happy Hollow. It's a dissappointment. The album abandons the kind of pop core that Cursive specializes in, perhaps to pursue a more sophisticated and complex sound; the result feels more sophomoric, and the album is more plodding and less melodic than any of their others. Another oddity is Tim Kasher's voice, which sounds smoother and cleaner than in the past. Perhaps he's been taking singing lessons in an effort to preserve it. The sound is odd.

I have to admit, after one run-through of this album I was loved it. Which is weird, because my favorite albums took me a long time to like, so conversely, I found this annoying after awhile. One reason was that I listened more closely to the songs, and specifically the lyrics, and his voice in general (you don't realize it until you listen to him actually sing a whole album). It always makes me cringe when a band goes "political", and well he's close enough. There's too church-bashing nowadays, can't you find something worthy of bashing?

Happy Hollow is more poppy and softer than The Ugly Organ, and there's loads of catchy guitar riffs, but it's not nearly as good. There's no harsh grating masterpieces like "Gentleman Caller" or "Butcher The Song", the closest thing is "Big Bang", which may be the best song on the album. Either that or "Bad Sects", which is one of the positives of the softer album, you would never hear that on an earlier Cursive album.

All in all, it's not a bad album, it's 14 good songs, nothing amazing, nothing terrible, but definetly not as good as "Domestica" or "Ugly Organ".

Ugly organ by Cursive has to be one of my favorite albums ever. Each track is not only well excecuted, by each of the tracks fit a sort of 'mood', which they retain from the the first to the last track.

Happy hallow is still an amazing album, but i feel that one or two of the songs (Mostly "Bad Science") just take away from that "mood" kasher tries to convey in Happy Hallow. Many of the songs are still very good (At conception, Hymns for the heathen, Retreat!, Dorothy at Forty) but then you have those one or two songs that just kill the perfection of this album.

Pick up Ugly Organ if you dont have it before trying Happy Hollow.

Call me crazy but this is far and away my favorite cd by Cursive. I am a fan of the good life, cursive and tim kasher himself and the material on this record seems the most meaningful and heartfelt to me. I may be bias because I can relate to the lyrics more than the others but musically it just seems alot smoother and more organized than previous and prior cd's.

Ambitiously shallow outing continues the upward battle meshing Kashir's feuding sides of melody, mayhem, and morosity.