cursive

the ugly organ

‘”Yeah we all know art is hard,” screams Tim Kasher on “Art is Hard,” Cursive’s first single off of their newest album, “The Ugly Organ.” Yet, they make it look so easy.

Well, it looks easy if you cast aside the fact that this full-length included Kasher’s collapsed lung, the looming shadow of the success of “Domestica,” a new-ish member, two new instruments, one of which is such a dissonant “ugly organ” that it makes Stravinsky and Bartok’s atonal works look like they could have been penned by Collective Soul.

Of course, there is also more tongue-in-cheek cynicism packed into every song for that extra burst of flavor.

The intellectual edge and self-satirizing lyrics have always been constants in the Cursive formula, though. It’s what they do best. The band has an uncanny ability to come off as deceptively pedestrian and it isn’t until upon further review that you realize just how deep the lyrics go. This surface compatibility makes their music accessible on numerous levels.

“The Ugly Organ” exudes talent and capability, proving just how far Cursive can take their music. It also shows just how much the band has grown and matured and how the members have all coalesced into one completely functional, utilitarian unit. At this point, they can probably churn out head-turning songs at record pace. There are no more boundaries, no more walls for this newly evolved band. The whole rock world has become their stomping ground.

The band was more appealing, to bastardize a J. Lo line, when they were just Cursive from the block.

While “The Ugly Organ” is, on paper, the ideal next step for Cursive, perhaps their own “Kid A,” in practice, it is missing something. It is missing the virility and vitality of youth and inexperience, the ingredient that “Domestica” was made of, and still “Burst and Bloom” clung on to in its opening tracks.

On both of those releases, Kasher’s signature scream and the band’s forceful progressions continued around every progression’s corner with you. It was expected and rarely failed to deliver. It was so forceful, even in the most down-tempo of songs, that it was impenetrable. It was a solid wall of sound that gave the otherwise laidback band the energy of a hardcore punk band.

Still, “The Ugly Organ” is an impressive work. Like “Kid A,” it should be looked at and admired on occasion. It should be hung up in some art gallery for musicianship, because it is, in every respect, a work of art.

That being said, “Domestica” is the album you want in your car, something to scream along to, while drivers in the passing lane stare at you wondering just what is wrong with you.