Fuck it, I like emo. I’m not even sure what emo means any more, but nothing pushes my buttons like melodic, slightly overwrought, sincere guitar music. Enter Cursive. Yeah, they’re five middle aged guys with receding hairlines singing songs that really should be the exclusive domain of sixteen year olds, but Christ they’re good.
They look like 1997’s American indie everyman, grown up with kids, considering things like Easter eggs. Twelve years into their career, singer Tim Kasher’s voice has become a bit of a parody of itself. It’s a languid, Californian drawl – odd seeing as he grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. He’s got the sort of thick, un-styleable hair I’ve struggled with all my life. No wonder he’s so pissed off.
His lyrics are wimpy. Sink To The Beat goes “I’ll try to make this perfectly clear/I’m so transparent that I disappear,” but it’s earnest in the best possible way. The crowd are devoted and recognise Art Is Hard by its opening drumbeat. Some do little introverted cheers, proving that English people really shouldn’t be allowed to go to rock shows.
The undulating piano on Making Friends And Acquaintances is beautiful, in a way that live keyboards rarely are. This and the measured saxophone playing of Mike Park turn songs which could be sub-Green Day wank in the wrong hands, into a more accessible Fugazi, with the occasional big pay-out chorus.
And there’s really not much more to report. Cursive have some of the best unexpected left turns and tempo changes in guitar music, but it’s negated by the fact that they’re just playing the songs without embellishment, in an easy confident groove. They don’t really say anything on stage, and yet it’s completely graceful. A triumph for understatement. And I even went the whole review without mentioning Bright Eyes! Oh…
Tags:
Camden Barfly, Cursive, Gig, Indie, Review
