Cursive “Happy Hollow” Review

Posted on August 23, 2006 by Tito

Note: this is the first in an irregular series, “Knee Jerk Reactions”, in which I review records immediatly after / during the first listen. No time to check lyrics, baby!

Just picked up the new Cursive CD (Happy Hollow) today over lunch. Thought I’d blog my first listen through. So far, my only exposure to the new songs has been one viewing of the video “Dorothy at 40″. I have to admit I’m a little afraid of the Wizard of Oz references — I wasn’t too crazy about the fairy tale stuff from The Ugly Organ (Frankenstein / Pinocchio). Here we go.

1. (Opening the Hymnal / Babies) Synthed out horny guitars. Voice affects. But I like it as an intro. Not sure if it will get any replay on its own, though. I think if the Bomb Squad went emo we may have heard something along these lines. I guess we’re in the ‘Babies’ section of the song now. Nothing remarkable

2. (Dorothy at Forty) — The video song. So far, I like it better without the visuals. Hyper bass & guitar. So far Kasher has refrained from screaming — a kindler gentler Cursive? A bunch of “dream” stuff. @1:56 we go scream / whisper. More straight ahead rock sound … less “angular” than other Cursive stuff. Ends with a synthy dream-sigh interrupted by loudness.

3. (Big Bang) - Sex? Cosmology? I expect both from the micro/macro minded Kasher. Disappointing lyrics : “We need a purpose in life”. ugghhh. [Note - Starting over due to an interruption 1:27 in]. Starts with some horn blasts. “There was this big bang once; but it doesn’t jive with Adam and Eve; Original Sin”. Ham fisted religious meditations. My alert level has been raised to Orange. The last 30 seconds is some kind of ambient doodling. Boooooring.

4. (Bad Sects) Punnery Indulgence? Titles aside, I like the groovy intro to the song. This song tells of a priest’s homosexuality and his encounter with a newly frocked 25 year old. “I know this is wrong / ’cause we’re told this is wrong”. I’m all for songs that tell “stories” but I think I prefer things that rock me musically first, and I get a story along the way.

5. (Flag and Family) This sounds like a Mayday-ish song — is that Ted Stevens on vocals? Check the liner notes later. [You'll hide behind your flag and family// this town has nothing left for me]. [When you're down on your knees are you praying for holy war??] So far this is my favorite song on the CD (maybe with Dorothy at 40 Close behind)

6. (Dorothy Dreams of Tornados). 1 minute in and this song seems like filler to me. Maybe the last 1:30 does something interesting. If the CD is a “concept” album based on a small town, this songs seems to move the plot along, but doesn’t add anything interesting on its own. “This city, this city is killing us. It’s killing us” If you’re gonna lean on cliches of RockNRoll (Gott get outta this place), you better add some music to the mix. Seems to fail here on the first listen.

7. (Retreat!) - I think I heard a vocoder. This song does nothing for me.

8. (The Sunks) Another Ted Stephens song? I like this one a bit more, simpler. Heavy-ish guitars. Lyrics not overwrought.

9. (At Conception) Jeannie is a young wife newly pregnant (not by her husband?). “I’m hardly the virgin mary, and you’re no carpenter, so who will build my home?”

10. (So-So Gigolo) Kasher keeps “singing” more than the yelling style that got Cursive this far, to the song’s detriment. I guess this song is about an aspiring actor who’s fallen into the world of male prostitution. So far, I don’t feel connected to any of the characters in the song.

11. (Bad Science) The counterpoint to “Bad Sects? Let’s see. (Another Stevens song?) The horns fit into the rhythm section well here. This song rates in the upper half of what I’ve heard so far. We’ll see at the end whether that says much at all. I think this song would better if it was faster by 15%. Ends in that ambient way that leaves me expecting (hoping for) a loud/fast intro, instead I get…

12. (Into The Fold) A ballad? starts of with clean guitar picking. Dream-songy Kasher sings. He sounds medicated. Again I ask where’s the piss & vinegar? This whole album has the feel of Cursive going through the motions. 2:50 in: /angelic/ sounding chant/singing. I like this with Kasher vocalizing over it. This song is finsihing strong. Perhaps the beginnng will grow on me as a result. I think Cursive has what it takes for some killer ballads, this one shows signs.

13. (Rise Up! Rise Up!). Two exclamation points? this song better come correct!! Opens up with a bass loop. The vocals coming in at :22 seam a little to clean. Maybe this album is overproduced? A little grime might do it some good. The lyrics seem to get too much attention on this song and the rest of the album, so far. The musak could have used some more attention, b/c the lyrics don’t cut it on their own.

14. (Hymns for the Heathen) - The album closer. The horn sound bookends with Track 01. The lyrics seem to recap the stories of the earlier songs (but then maybe not — I won’t pretend that I followed along exactly the whole way. A littany of Hymn Numbers (1 through 14) complete with one sentence synopsis for each. I guess I could have saved us all some trouble and typed up the lyrics to this song instead.

Wrap Up: The first go through is very disappointing. Instead of Cursive, I think I got a Good Life and Mayday album all rolled up into one, and not for the better. I think a few songs will grow on me, but I suspect I’ll never /love/ any of them. Even though, songs usually take time for me to get ito them, there should at least be a few that jump out at me. On previous Cursive albums these include “The Recluse” / “Some Red-Headed Slight of Hand” / “A Gentleman Caller” / “The Great Decay” / “The Martyr” / “The Lament of Pretty Baby” / “The Radiator Hums”, to name more than a few. This album seems to be mostly full of filler. The religious musings seem facile, and the music doesn’t pick up the slack. Better to leave these themes to The Hold Steady - who in addition to bettering Cursive lyrically and musically this time out — also know how to have fun. Happy Hollow seems joyless, which would be no big deal, if there was some anger / pain / confusion that seemed a little more heartfelt. Dammit, but I don’t know that I don’t miss a little of the screamo¹. On whole, this album seems too crafted. For a concept album about centered around a small town - Happy Hollow - I was hoping for Winesburg, Ohio and got something more along the lines of a Very Special Blossom.

In other news, the CD did come with a number of MP3s from other Saddle Creek bands to demo. Which is nice. But I wonder if this won’t signal this CD’s legacy as Cursive’s last “hurrah” before handing the torch to the next generation of Creekers who might have more to say (or at leastt a little more passion in the delivery).

And in true Reading Rainbow spirit….that’s just my opinion, what do /you/ think. Hop on over to Meta-Critic for a review roundup. I see Alternative Press scored it a perfect 100. WTF? Drowned in Sound starting the Album of the Year hype? I guess I’m really missing something here. I think the Guardian aligns closes with me, as much as it pains me: “The painful punning of Bad Sects is just one of the many cringeworthy moments on an album that sees grown men wallowing in a teenage wasteland from which they really should have moved on.” Pitchfork also seems to be onto something “Now Happy Hollow confirms the death: Cursive’s salad days are over. They’re officially a words band, more interested in meaning than feeling.”

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¹ Perhaps this whole review will server as nothing more than proof that I’m an unimaginitive, unforgiving fan-boy who just wants one of my favorite bands to regurgitate their name-making sound. I hope I’m wrong on all counts, and that after a bit, I will “get” this album. Let’s see.

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