New Cursive for $3 Today

By Shawn M. Smith - March 3, 2009 | Email the author

Cursive [Myspace] have been very strongly on my personal list o’ bands that “rule harder than most” since my purchase of The Ugly Organ in the spring of 2003. I wasn’t the biggest Saddle Creek fan yet (that transformation occurred about a year before this review here: Bright Eyes – Lua & Take It Easy (Love Nothing) Reviews ), and in “the real world”, I had just taken on the keys and responsibility as Assistant Manager at that Terrible Record Store for Corporate Muckymucks (read: TWEC) and had yet to begin creating special orders and discovering crazy new music, Cursive was a refreshing departure.

Since that time, the band has consistently churned out hefty, dramatic records that critics and fans have both adored. Now, their latest album, Mama, I’m Swollen, for $3 today after debuting the album for $1 on Sunday as part of an awesome fan promotion. For the next eight days, the new album will be available at a pro-rated price that will increase by $1 each day (i.e., the price is $2 today, $3 on March 3rd, $4 on March 4th, etc.). When the record hits stores on March 10th, the digital album will then remain at the regular price of $9.

Check out a track from the album and see some tour dates “after the jump”

[mp3] Cursive - “From the Hips”

Tim Kasher is a storyteller, a weaver of songs that can read more like short stories or fables than the standard verse-chorus verse. Mama, I’m Swollen finds him at his literate, lyrical best, where references to both Poe (“Going To Hell”) and Pinocchio (“Donkeys”) are intertwined seamlessly within his own tales of characters grappling with the moral quandary of being human, adult, and playing a role in ‘civilized’ society. Musically, Cursive is as smart and sophisticated as ever, the songs’ rousing, cerebral content complemented by moments alternately hushed and exhilarating (the cathartic “From The Hips,” the noisily melodic romp “I Couldn’t Love You”), eerily moody and jaunty (the almost prayer-like “Let Me Up,” “Mama, I’m Swollen”) – moments that often occur within the very same song. From the charging bass lines of album opener “In The Now” to the quiet first chords of confessional closer “What Have I Done?”, Mama, I’m Swollen is a natural progression that remains distinctively Cursive: a fluid amalgamation of the band’s sound past, present, and future – a band that both your punk kid sister and English lit grad student best friend can call their own.

Tour Dates:

March 09th Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg (sold-out)
March 10th Manhattan, NY Bowery Ballroom (sold-out)
March 12th Los Angeles, CA Spaceland (sold-out)
March 13th Los Angeles, CA The Troubador (sold-out)
March 14th San Diego, CA The Casbah (sold-out)
March 15th Phoenix, AZ Rhythm Room
March 16th Albuquerque, NM The Launchpad
March 18th San Antonio, TX White Rabbit