by: Sun-J
"The Ugly Organ is a singular work: an operetta of sexual and emotion; confusion and conflict set to a musical backdrop that mirrors and expresses the entire range of emotions involved"
-Tim Kasher mastermind vocalist/organ player
A pensive analysis of this quote provides a superb description of the intricate, emotional metamorphisms that take place during the twelve tracks. Since mathematics is the foundation in the derivations of the simplest happenings in life such as rain drops falling, I shall take a stab at generalizing this quote from a Newton-like perspective.
A differential equation may be used as an aid to describe an event over time. In attempting to arrive at this function which describes time-dependent occurrences, many a times it is essential to analyze all that is part of the differential equation. Singular points are defined to be spots in which the function (or equation) graphically is lost to a certain degree. Though, even just slightly passed this singular point makes it very possible for some functions to symmetrically mirror themselves. This is what Tim Kasher seems to be doing throughout The Ugly Organ on the topic of romance and relationships.
Cursive's last release Domestica was simply ingenious, and would be very difficult to follow up. Taking this into account, it seems as if Cursive anticipated the fall off and tried to eliminate it by adding a 5th member, Cellist Gretta Cohn. Though she is brilliant, Domestica is simply unmatchable. Fortunately, make no mistake; The Ugly Organ is beautiful in its symbiotic relationship between thundering rhythms, disjointed guitars, butterfly celloism, and circus organ-ing. The album connects truly personal lyrics with passionately played music. It is the filler to the gap between materialistic pop emo, and indie rock.
Kasher starts the album out with fifty-three seconds of reckless organ-ing before switching gears straight into the next song. "Some Red Headed Slight of Hand" sets the tone of the albums, foretelling what is to come; painful and vitriolic music; "And now we proudly present songs perverse…and songs that catalogue our sick obsession." On "Art is Hard" Kasher spews out disgust for the industry, "Your self inflicted pain is getting too routine/ The crowds are catching on to the self inflicted song/ Here we go again/ The art of acting weak/ firing up to fail/ To boost your CD Sales…You gotta recreate your misery/ We all know art is hard." Similarly on "Butcher the Song," Kasher belts. "I'm writing songs to entertain/ But these people, they just want pain." Clearly Kasher is expressing his sentiments about the music industry, and in particular what emo has evolved into today. After this brief singularity, Kasher and his quartet of musical cronies head off back toward the initial path, deep inside the heart of Kasher's conflicting feelings regarding his divorce. On "A Gentleman Caller," Kasher addresses his ex-wife, "Your gentleman caller/ Well he's been calling on another/ He loves his forbidden fruit. It seems as though Kasher has nothing but disgust for his ex-wife, yet like all of us, there is still a part of Kasher that longs to be with his ex. This is further evidenced on "Sierra." "I want that kiss, that kid, that apt…I'm ready to settle down now/ get that man out of my bed/ I want my daughter…" Cursive continues this transitional collection of unordered emotions painted with superb instrumentation ending on a debatable note. Is Kasher expressing thoughts of regret about his divorce, or is he displaying strengths?
The Ugly Organ is a musically humble reflection of Kasher's deepest thoughts and reminds us of what emo really should be.
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