by jon bosworth jaxvillain@yahoo.com
Emo doesn’t really mean anything. Actually, it’s funny, because after Cursive released The Ugly Organ in 2003, bass player Matt Maginn talked to Indie Workshop and said “I think we’ve always been sort of perceived as just an indie band - like, whatever the hell that means, because every band that’s independent is technically an indie band.” Well in 2003 music writers and musicians were still trying to wrap their brains around the concept of “emo,” so it wasn’t as widespread of a term as it is now, but Cursive helped create the genre. Their deeply EMOtional lyrics and dynamic songwriting style, which interplayed soft and melodic parts with almost hardcore-quality rock parts, on their 2000 release Domestica defined the term emo. But like the description “indie” it has been butchered by every publicist for the last three Warped Tours, so no one knows what it means anymore. Which is all well and good since Cursive has all but abandoned that sound. Their new sound is equally as definitive, but not nearly as trite.
With Happy Hollow Cursive has realigned sans their cellist to release a truly dichotomous and astounding record. Rich with their usual layers of varying complexity and dissonance, this album does not fail to impress through Tim Kasher’s unique storytelling, theatrical concepts, and the band’s amazing ability to write different parts that work together, are layered on top of each other, but seem to operate on a completely different rhythmic structure. Whereas any other contemporary band trying to emphasize a change, a chorus, or just an intense segment of music, would have the various musicians simultaneously return to the song’s familiar chord structure, Cursive has three separate rhythms playing simultaneously, and all three snap into one to create a musical catharsis. This catharsis is exactly the push Kasher’s storyline calls to complete the theatrical theme.
In The Ugly Organ Kasher used Pinocchio as his recurring theatrical theme, a sort of director’s object, but on Happy Hollow he uses The Wizard of Oz. The hit song from the album, ‘Dorothy Turns Forty’, is case in point. When I caught up with Matt in Iowa City (they are already touring) he was not able to answer any of my strange and creepy Tim Kasher fan questions, but he was able to answer a lot of questions I’ve been dying to ask Cursive at large.
EU: How does Cursive fit into the Saddle Creek/Omaha explosion of a couple of years back?
MM: We were all friends in high school. Originally, we’d all chip in to help each other put out our records. It was a sort of collective. We’d do tours together, share info on where to play, and generally help each other out. Members of Bright Eyes and Cursive sort of built it.
EU: Do you suspect that many towns have music scenes as prolific as Omaha, or is Omaha an anomaly?
MM: No, I think there are other towns as prolific. The drastic difference that has brought more attention to Saddle Creek is that we got out there and toured. A lot. We pushed each other to make honest music. We just kept hitting the road regardless of how brutal it was.
EU: What inspired the move away from the emo sound that your band helped define with Domestica, to more of the dissonant, minor-chord songs of The Ugly Organ and Happy Hollow?
MM: I think it’s just the natural progression of the writing. We’ve always wanted to have quirky, perverted, odd sound to our music. (Laughing) We just keep trying to get closer to that.
EU: Have people been resistant to the heavy-handed nature of the anti-religious themes of the new album?
MM: Yes. We were nervous about it, frankly, we were concerned—scared about it, I’ve been surprised. Its turned some people off. Wierded them out or whatever. Lots of people aren’t comfortable with it. We’re comfortable with it. We really put a lot of talk into it and discussions about it and we chose to do it. We’re happy with the release.
EU: In the past Tim has written pretty personal lyrics, but with this album his songs seem to be more parabolic. How was his inspiration for this album different than the prior albums?
MM: Well I guess it’s always been sort of an underlying theme that showed its head every now and then in previous albums. The Storms of Early Summer has a lot of it. I think that it’s still personal, it’s just not inner personal. We were all raised Christian, so going through that and coming to terms with the spirituality that each person has… It’s still pretty personal in a lot of ways. It’s man’s relationship with god rather than man’s relationship with man.
EU: Do you feel the album comes across as pious?
MM: No. I don’t think so.
EU: Some of the songs sound like they were recorded on the coast of the Caspian sea in some surly fishery pub. How did you achieve that Eastern European horn sound?
MM: We’re lucky to have a friend that can write some pretty amazing arrangements. He wrote it and we hired players for in the studio. He leant a lot of his style through the sound of the horns.
EU: What is your relationship like with The Good Life?
MM: We sort of tag team Tim, I guess. (Laughs) We look out for each other. We try to be mindful of their scheduling needs so that Cursive doesn’t get in the way of their time and music. It’s a pretty good relationship.
EU: Was touring with The Cure wish fulfillment or a nightmare?
MM: It was the best thing we’ve ever done, by far. It was a really cool experience.
EU: Jacksonvillians have to drive to Tallahassee, Orlando, or Gainesville to catch a live show on this tour, what can we expect from the live show to make it worth our drive?
MM: Well, we’re playing a good amount of songs from Domestica and the Ugly Organ as well as pretty much everything from Happy Hollow. We’re also playing a selection of older songs. And we have three hot ass horn players.
EU: Do you change up any of the older songs?
MM: We’ve added some arrangements to older songs, yes. We mix it up to keep it interesting.
Check out Cursive’s interactive promotion at www.badsects.com if you are interested in remixing a song off of the new record and submitting it to appear as a B-side of their next single. Catch Cursive live at The Moon at FSU in Tallahassee on November 20th, the Reitz Union Ballroom at the University of Florida on November 21st (get there early, because it’s a free show) and the Firestone in Orlando on November 22nd.
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