CursiveHappy HollowGrade: A-
Welcome to Happy Hollow, a small town with small minds and big egos! Not to mention religious hypocrites and unrealistic dreamers.
Omaha indie rock band, Cursive, deliver one of the best albums of the year with their 14-track attack on cities like their own hometown and perhaps even (cough) Laredo: places dominated by religion, tradition, and in some cases, narrow-mindedness.
Though the band has existed in one form or another since the mid 90’s, Happy Hollow marks their first full-throttle foray into social commentary. Previous releases such as 2000’s Domestica and 2003’s The Ugly Organ dealt mainly with vocalist/guitarist Tim Kasher’s introspectiveness concerning failed relationships and the creative process.
Now, Cursive returns with what some will no doubt deem a necessary record for these times where wars are waged in the name of religion. Fans of Cursive’s love-lost laments shouldn’t feel too bad though. On “Flag and Family,” Kasher sings about a relationship that quickly goes south because of the girl’s father. The twist is (and this is where the “record for these times” thing comes in) the fathers of both kids have decided to send the boy off to fight “an oily war.”
From start to finish, Happy Hollow is an indictment against stagnant communities preserved by their religion and their unfulfilled childhood fantasies. Backed by wailing horns, fuzzed-up guitar riffs, and just the right amount of discordance, Kasher delivers his lyrical assault on Happy Hollow’s townsfolk with as much fervor as the very priests that he addresses on songs such as “Bad Sects” and “At Conception.” I bet you can’t guess what secrets Kasher reveals about these priests.
Though the listeners are meant to do some indicting of their own, it’s hard not to sympathize with the burdens that the locals deal with daily. On “Dorothy at Forty,” the lyrics address The Wizard of Oz’s heroine once she’s realized that Oz doesn’t really exist.
“Dorothy, I know you’ve had amazing dreams, but we can’t go chasing down each golden street.”
Poor Dorothy. It turns out that the yellow brick road is covered with grass and weeds.
“We’re not in dreamland anymore,” Kasher yells.
Probably the most impressive aspect of Cursive’s latest is how mature the sound has become. With the first track, “Opening of the Hymnal/Babies,” we know that we’re dealing with a tight group of individuals that have been playing together long enough to realize that nothing is off limits. Also equally impressive is the manner in which Kasher adapts his voice in a variety of ways. Whether he’s screeching out lyrics with a high-pitched yelp on “Dorothy at Forty,” or dropping his voice down to a grumble on “Bad Sects,” his range has certainly improved. Believe me, that range comes in handy as he tackles the controversial lyrical material.
Just like the sound of the album, the subject matter can be described in one word: heavy.