Customer Reviews

The Ugly Organ

5 star:		(71)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I think Kasher has created a wonderful album with the Ugly Organ, a brilliant concept piece of art vs. commercialism. Perhaps Cursive fans were a little let down with Domestica, an album created shortly after Kasher's bitter divorce. However, I for one was given hope with the Burst and Bloom EP, an album for the first time involving the cellist Gretta Cohn.

Kasher may sound like a bitter, angst filled teen, but it actually goes far beyond this. The two bands Kasher fronts (Cursive and The Good Life), both are filled with songs of loss and anger. Where does it all come from inside that lanky indie exterior?

The single, "Art is Hard," perhaps gives some insight to this. Giving a not-so-vague analogy to his forced anger to entertain the masses of depressed indie children who are his fans. "Cut it out- your self-inflicted pain / is getting too routine / the crowds are catching on / to the self-inflicted song," "Fall in love to fail / to boost your CD sales." It goes on. It goes on with rhythmic guitars and the most honest vocals of Tim Kasher's career with Cursive.

Surprisingly, though, the album does not remain bitter the entire extent. In "The Recluse," Kasher is bitter about different things. He actually sings about his depressing moments of waking up in unknown women's beds. Ahhh, single-life is getting to Kasher, married-life got to Kasher, what can this sad, sad man do? Kasher says: "I'm not that desperate... Oh no, Oh God, I am."

The middle-part of the album holds nothing very special to me musically, just solid, good songs. "Butcher the Song" is a nice little piece with beautiful cello and a bit of organ. "A Gentleman Caller" is a song more reminiscent of earlier Cursive work, with screaming vocals and pounding guitars, ending in such an orchestral way, one would barely realize it's the same song.

The end of the album holds what I feel are the best songs. Both "Bloody Murderer" and "Sierra" feature guest backing vocals by, again, Jenny Lewis of Rilo Kiley (not that I could even point them out). The background on "Bloody Murderer" holds this eerie, perhaps frightening aura that Cursive also has live. "Sierra" is just such a quality, wonderful song, full of crescendos, strong vocals, depressing cello, and pounding drums and strumming guitars. But the song goes so much deeper into Kasher's life, where he pleads for the life he had once with his wife before they moved to Portland and destroyed their relationship. He wants to be the one to kiss his daughter goodnight, he wants to be in that apartment with her.

It's at that point where no matter what Kasher could say or do, you love him so much, because he's so sad but obviously such a wonderful man. It doesn't even matter that the finale, "Staying Alive," is a brillant 10 minute epic closer with a chorus that will haunt your dreams for months to come.

Another wonderful album for 2003. Kasher has done well with the band.

For fans of: Thursday, the Blood Brothers, Sorry About Dresden, Bright Eyes, the Faint, Desparecidos, the Good Life, the Detachement Kit, the Liars, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Q & Not U, Small Brown Bike and maybe something more like Ikara Colt ...

After hearing Domestica, I couldn't wait for Cursive's new release. While I thought it'd be impossible, Cursive has put together an album that is even stronger than Domestica. The addition of Gretta Cohn on cello has added a whole other dimension to the music. The use of piano and organ also adds more to the sound, fleshing out the sound more than on Domestica.

Most of the songs have the trademark Cursive sound which is pretty much difficult, if not impossible, to describe. Dissonant guitars laid over drums that often take unexpected changes. The cello contributes to this album in more ways than one can imagine. One of the things I like about Cursive is their ability to write challenging songs - usually you can tell where the melody of a song is headed the first time you hear it. With Cursive, they occasionally pull that rug out from under you and take an abrupt turn in the opposite direction.

The lyrics are insightful and a joy to listen to and Tim Kasher's voice, while nowhere near perfect, is perfectly suited to the music he makes. I can't really think of the words to describe this album other than perfect and beautiful. If you like Cursive, you owe it to yourself to pick up this album. If you've never heard Cursive, there's no better time than now. As someone else suggested, this may very well be one of the best albums of 2003.

So go buy it. Now.

Do you remember the days of listening to Weezer's Pinkerton continually, each lyric sticking out as if you wrote it, and you even checked out a copy of "Madame Butterfly" so you could catch all of the allusions? Sure you do. An entire generation was brought up on that album, but for some reason any band that tries to repeat that open diary confession gets weighed down with cheesy lyircs that drown in saccharine self-pity (including Weezer oddly enough). These emo bands seemed to understand just one thing: self-pity. Cursive knows that no matter how awful a relationship, and no matter how "wronged" you've been, you'll do something just as morally reprehensible despite, or because, of what's been done to you. What Cursive understands, and so did Weezer once upon a time, is that self-loathing is even more a part of a break up than self-pity. The Ugly Organ is the new Pinkerton. The lyrics aren't bland exclamations of emotion, but rather clever image laden diatribes that are ironic, but fall short of being too self-conscious for their own good. In other words, they're a representation of the conflicting thoughts and emotions we feel whenever we confront the worst of our own nature.

ALLright all you whiny pretentious emo/indie scum, I concede defeat. After listening to countless albums of formulaic whine,riff,chorus,whine,riff,chorus,pretend like your on the verge of tears,riff,chorus, Cursive produces an album which all you sniffling Emocore kids can be proud of. Time to get those Dashboard Confessional and Get-Up Kids albums and toss them in the garbage like the rubbish they are. I, as you can probably tell, do not buy into the whole Emo/Hardcore whatever it is that you call yourselves sub-culture. I'm kinda sceptical of people's intentions IE: do they actually like this Emo crap, or just listen to it to be part of the "scene" So naturally, I had low expectations that fateful night when I popped The Ugly Organ into my CD player, and was in no way prepared for what I was about to experience. By the end of "Staying Alive" I felt extremely tense and yet incredibly relieved. These are two powerful and very different emotions to be feeling at once, and while my eyes felt like they were ready to burst out of their sockets, my body felt like it had lost all of its bone matter and was lying into a gelatinous heap on my bed (like in that episode of the Family Guy). Yes, this oh-so sceptical reviewer got his sorry ass blown away.
Now here's why:
1) Tim Kasher's vocals actually sounds like he has something to be upset about. Unlike the countless other Emo crooners who simply cater to the masses of depressed and disillusioned youth, and whose falseness is hard to ignore.
2) The addition of the cello was absolute genius. It adds a lot of body and texture to the songs, it complements Kahser's vocals perfectly and is instrumental in creating the dramatic theme of the album.
3) The Ugly Organ is a concept album in a genre of music that does not lend itself well to concepts. This is an album that demands to be listened to in its entirety.
4) Most importantly, and I'm afraid that most of you insecure image driven wanna-be hipsters out there are missing this, The Ugly Organ is an incredibly complex and intelligent peice of music. Just look at the layering of guitar and cello chords on top of each other, the sampled movie dialogue at the end of "Butcher the Song" and the perfect harmonious balance of beautifully fragile melodies and harsh power cords. The final track alone, "Staying Alive" is easily one of the most beautiful pieces of music I have heard in my entire life. And I've heard a lot of music. Just listen as cello, guitar and Kasher's dynamic vocals reach to a stunning, intense and amazingly beautiful polyphonic crescendo. Feels like Alex lisseing to the 9th in A Clockwork Orange. " Like a bird of rarest spun heaven metal, or like silvery wine flowing in a spaceship gravity all nonesense now" haha
Wheew, this is damn good stuff people. Pretentious as hell, but as Kasher says "Art is Hard," and he most definitely delivers.

It's easy to lable Cursive as a band that panders to indie rock elitists looking for the next big bandwagon, or you may think this is a far too pretentious band trying to be "artsy" and "deep". But if you push those thoughts aside and actually listen the album, you'll probably find that a lot of thought was put into it's creation.

The big difference between "The Ugly Organ" and Cursive's last LP "Domestica" is plain to anyone, the use of a full time cello. We first got a taste of a more cello dominated Cursive with their EP "Burst and Bloom", and while the songs on that were hardly realised and seemed to be more like experiments than a focused work, it still proved to be a great listen. Instead of floating in the background creating ambiance, the cello on "The Ugly Organ" acts more as a lead guitar, creating many of the melodies throughout the album, from the mellow "Driftwood" to the abrasive "A Gentleman Caller" the cello parts in the album are incredibly unique to anything else out there at the moment.

Another major factor in the album is that, by themselves, the albums songs are less than stunning, "The Ugly Organ" is certainly an album that must be listened to from start to finish to get the full extent of it. And in an age where bands seem to focus on writting that one hit single per album, it's refreshing to hear a band that is focused only on the total outcome of the album.

I know it may seem a little early to make the claim that this is the best CD of 2003, but once you listen to it, you'll see that my claim is most certainly justified. The first full-length since 2000's Domestica is a wonderous piece of art. Songs such as "Art Is Hard" and "Driftwood: A Fairy Tale" show a remarkable amount of lyrical talent from frontman Tim Kasher, and the presence of Gretta Cohn's cello does wonders for the music. I had heard a lot about Cursive before listening to this album, which was the first I heard from them. Needless to say, after listening, I could easily understand why they had been so greatly hype. If you want a piece of damn-near perfect indie rock, it would be wise of you to pick up The Ugly Organ.

It's never a good thing for music to repeat itself and to remain stagnant; every band sounding like the other. When a band takes a sound they've spent years playing and perfecting and changes it, most people cry foul. Curisve have taken the mid western style of punk/emo that they have helped create and spiced it up. A cello was added, and gave this band new life. Before this album Cursive was already one of the best bands in the indie world, and with "The Ugly Organ" they have solidified their position as one of the most creative and talented bands in the world.

"The Ugly Organ" is a masterwork, one of the defining albums that is truly perfect in every way imaginable. Artwork = amazing. Production = top-notch. Lyrics = true poetry written by an amazing writter, spectacular, and will leave you saying "wow, did he really write that?" after you read them. They are that good. Vocals = Tim has an amazing voice, and I think it shows the most on this record. He has such command of his voice and delivers his lyrics in a truly meaningful and haunting way. Music = Words can't describe it. Infectious drumming, truly amazing guitar work, and the addition of the cello to this band has only made it better. The cello adds a new depth and diversity to the songs. The whole album is haunted by a feeling of despair and darkness...but not in an evil way...more in an honest "this is being real" naked kind of way (both with the lyrics and music). Every song on this album is brilliantly written and played.

If you want to know what it sounds like, think old Cursive only with a cello, more diversity (bells, organ, etc) thrown in, and the natural progression the band would take in its growth. If you don't know what Curisve sounds like, think mid western rock/emo/punk played as well and original as you can imagine it. The Ugly Organ is a concept album, which only helps (as we all know concept albums are better than regular albums).

The Ugly Organ is full of emotional heartfelt songs, most of which are on the darker side when it comes to lyrics and atmosphere. "Gentleman Caller", "Buthcer the Song" and "Bloody Murderer" are the three standout tracks, as they display the most growth and talent. "Bloody Murderer", "Driftwood: A Fairy Tale", "The Rescue" and "Siera" give me chills still. "Red Handed Slight of Hand" and "Art is Hard" are the two straight foward rockers of the album, and the album ends with the 10 minute epic "Staying Alive". Even the interludes are amazing. The Ugly Organ is a true masterpiece, and one that should be enjoyed by all. Cursive is one of those bands that get little respect and attention, yet deserve it much more than most other bands. So buy this album, and all Cursives prior works.

Oh, and another thing...Cursive have always toured a lot, and they have been on the road supporting this album almost none stop since it has been released. Any and all attention/recognition they get they deserve. Buy this record and support a record company (Saddle Creek) and a band(Curisve, incase you weren't paying attention) that are in it for the music and only the music. For it is them that make music worth while and meaningful. Thank you.

With "The Ugly Organ" Kasher once again resumes the role as storyteller as was done on "Domestica". The songs take classic life partly through the quality of Cohn's cello and the intense lyrics delivered throughout the album. Opening the album with, "And now we proudly present/Songs preserve and songs of lament," you prepare yourself for the melancholy and irony of the album. You need to prepare yourself because what an emotional journey it is.

With "Some Red Handed Slight of Hand", "Art Is Hard", and "The Recluse" back to back in the first half of the album the change of pace is nice. Yet I feel that with some of the strongest on the album over with so quickly the middle drags. Picking back up with "Bloody Murderer" the end closes the album strong and delivers what was missing.

The tracks are laden with metaphors and the sad tone of Kasher's heartbreak, and starting new relationships the same way that others have ended. I felt tense while listening to the record, I didn't know what to expect and there is a vibe you get with the album that does nothing for your spirits. Cursive has a good set of songs on the album but their not my style. The greatest of indie albums have covered gloomy topics and I have enjoyed them. That's what it is with "The Ugly Organ" overall it's missing something, it's not the songs, nor the tunes. After your done listening to it you don't feel relieved, just gloomy.

The Ugly Organ receives
A Bliss of 6

I don't give five stars out to just good bands. This is one of the top three in my all-time greatest albums. It is an excelent satire of tension, romance, and emotion. If you appreciate great emotional music you will love this album. I listened to it every day for two months.

Two words pretty much sum up this album... Tim Kasher. This guy is INCREDIBLE. He has put together a band with so many great qualities that he is able to write such beautifully abrasive music filled with time-changes, off-kilter rhythyms, and sheer guitar brutality. The addition of Greta Cohn's cello really deepens the basslines and fills the space between the other instruments. Make no mistake, this is a BIG, deep record with many layers and a borderline inaccessible sound (ie. no singles save "The Recluse"). One of the best of 2003.