A new record as a freshly reconstituted
four-piece--the longtime core of Tim Kasher (vocals, guitar), Matt
Maginn (bass), Clint Schnase (drums) and Ted Stevens (guitar,
vocals).
The band's reemergence finds them self-assured and assertive as
ever. Rather than retread familiar artistic ground, Cursive has unfurled
their most adventurous and accomplished work to date, Happy Hollow.
Happy Hollow is an expansion of Cursive's trademark discordant swell:
dissonant yet distinctively melodic guitar sounds and frontman
Kasher's ever-cathartic yowl now mesh and clash with horns, piano,
accordion and other various instrumentation. The new songs are
marked by a new bounce, a buoyant strut and a recognition that hey...
this is fun.
Still informed by a sharp lyrical pathos and a wise, road-tested sense
of dynamic interplay, the songs groove and dart with brash swagger,
interspersed with hints of gospel and skewed blues. The rhythm section,
heavier, tighter, and more propulsive than ever, drives the songs
forward while horns careen over dueling vocals and interweaving guitars.
Never repeating themselves, always pushing forward artistically and
never settling, Cursive returns to raise the bar with yet another groundbreaking
new album, Another Hit Record as Follow-Up to Hit Record.
Happy Hollow’s first single "Dorothy at Forty" is another typically atypical
Cursive romp, catapulted by incisive guitars, punctuated by horns
and jerking to a stop before mightily spiraling away into the song's
rousing coda."Dorothy at Forty" is backed with
non-album tracks "The Bitter End" and "The Censor."
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