mama, I’m swollen

I fell in love with Cursive the first time I heard The Ugly Organ. I was surprised and incredibly excited to have found a contemporary band that seemed to embrace the idea of a concept album (and didn’t make it seem too haute or self-involved, a-la Bright Eyes’ Fevers & Mirrors). The album’s production, flow, literacy, self-deprecation and honest aggression were a breath of fresh air for my high-school self, who was suffocating in the fake-angry of countless screamo bands that college radio seemed particularly obsessed with.

I know that, even then, I was a latecomer to the whole Cursive scene – I’d missed out completely on the initial brilliance of Domestica — which is a terrific record, but doesn’t quite come out ahead musically for me.

Their sixth album and latest release, March’s Mama, I’m Swollen was to me what 2006’s Happy Hollow should have been (and what I pretended it was for several months upon its initial release). Happy Hollow was their first album since the departure of Gretta Cohn, the cellist who helped make Cursive’s sound unique in its sinister aggression. I’ll still defend it as a record that’s better than critics and the fanbase will admit, but lyrically, it’s their weakest. Tim Kasher’s attack on the hold organized religion can exert over an entire community came off as half-honest. For as much poignant criticism that there was on tracks like the blistering “Bad Science,” there was as much ham-fisted commentary that felt regurgitated from the kinds of books you’ll see Junior High anarchists carrying around with them. Happy Hollow’s inclusion of frankly brilliant horn arrangements kept it tightly knit and a great listening experience, but it just wasn’t up to Cursive’s standards (which doesn’t make it a bad album, it’s just not the freaking-amazing I’m used to getting).

So when Mama, I’m Swollen was nearing release, it didn’t seem to me there was the same kind of excitement surrounding it. Curiosity, yes, but if it was because of nothing else than the obliquely sensational title, though, I can’t be sure. And then the first reviews started coming out, and I still had no understanding of this album’s nature. Each one I read took the same stance as usual on a new Cursive record, which was essentially this: “I’ve liked each Cursive album less and less since Domestica, and Mama, I’m Swollen is no different.” This was disappointing to me in a lot of ways. It seemed that the job of fans would be failure to embrace a band’s sonic progression, and the job of critics to analyze said new sound with more of an objective ear. Another reason I was so taken aback by the lukewarm-to-negative reviews it seemed to be receiving were the comments that Mama, I’m Swollen was an ineffective and juvenile concept album, with a loose and weak narrative thread. But it doesn’t seem to me to be a story or concept at all, which led me to wonder if what’s-his-face from SPIN Magazine even listened to the record all the way through.

And then it came out digitally nine days before its street release date, and people were able to purchase it for two dollars. And all I heard from my mp3-centric peers was that the new Cursive is a solid record. By this time I’d heard the album’s pre-released single, “From the Hips,” and I was getting excited.

Cursive – From the Hips

Upon my first listen, it felt a little off. I could tell it was good, but the atonal charge through opener “In the Now,” and the almost mariachi-like influence on “From the Hips,” put a strange taste in my ears. And then the album kept going, and suddenly it felt like every successive song lent itself to the previous tracks, developing the sound and soul of the album in a way where, while not necessarily related on any literal level, each song is intrinsic to the quality of each other song, and therefore to the album as a whole.

The third time I listened to Mama, I’m Swollen, something clicked, and I spent the next few months listening to the record all the way through two or three times a day. It really hits its stride when “Donkeys,”  gets to its halfway point, harnessing an energy that the first three tracks only hint at, which, even if Cursive hadn’t extrapolated further from that point, would still have carried me through to the end of the album.

In a recent interview with Tim Kasher conducted by The A.V. Club, Kasher discusses the way he wrote and recorded Mama, I’m Swollen, and how it may have differed from previous recording sessions. I was most interested in his mention of the way he recorded vocals, which seemed to me to be one of this record’s strongest improvements on earlier Cursive work. Kasher had always recorded vocals by himself, which would lead to over-recording and over-analyzing of his voice. For this record, he limited himself to three different takes. And really, his voice is astonishing, surprisingly sober and confident. It achieves an incredibly sinister tone, even more effective than usual given its surprising suaveness and beauty, most notably in “We’re Going to Hell,” “Mama, I’m Satan,” and “What Have I Done?”

Cursive – Mama, I’m Satan

Kasher also hits on something that I think is really insightful, and really helped Cursive’s sound click into place within the realm of my tastes:

“The way this album came out was really reassuring to me to recognize that hard rock—as in loud music—just isn’t something I listen to that much, so I often wondered why that’s what I do. So it was reassuring that we had a very open mind about what kind of record we wanted to do, and this is what came out. It is both, I guess; it is kind of loud and soft. I feel comfortable that it is a very honest portrayal of what we wanted, or what I personally wanted to write next, but it didn’t necessarily need to be a Cursive record. But it certainly feels and sounds like a Cursive record. So it makes me feel like a little more comforted that what I have done in the past isn’t like some affectation, which I had to ask myself before too. Because it’s like, “If you’re a guy that doesn’t listen to a lot of hard rock, why did you write it?” But mostly, I love human aggression. I like it in myself, I think. As far as something to get out, I believe that everybody has it in them, so I like to be an outlet.”

And that’s definitely true. Cursive has always been a great outlet of aggression that somehow seemed correct. Even though I might not always agree with the words, the spirit of it always seemed well-developed, and properly executed. That is probably why their sonic shifts have never bothered me before. Kasher writes a certain kind of music for Cursive so although their albums may not sound the same, the band has always had a purpose and has always achieved it.

Cursive – Mama, I’m Swollen

Basically, Cursive is a band that has found a place in my heart, and Mama, I’m Swollen reinforces the fact that they are a good band to use as a foundation in musical taste. Cursive is consistent, and consistently good. If you’re someone who’s been turned off of them by their earlier, louder recordings, then Mama, I’m Swollen might be a terrific entry point for you. And if you’re someone who’s been into Cursive from the start, I hope that you liked them for more than the way they sounded.