Mama, I'm Swollen

CursiveMama, I’m SwollenI don’t know a terrible amount about the basics of Cursive frontman Tim Kasher’s personal character - never cared to look. He could be 20, he could be 30. Sounds like a softly bearded white dude with the same suburban issues many of us have. But, again, who knows, he could be a British guy faking his way through a pseudo-American yelp. I do, however, know quite a bit about this man’s emotions, as he’s long been known for his candid songwriting. So candid and emotional, in fact, that he’s typically thought of as one of emo’s top early guns - a reputation he hardly shakes on Cursive’s sixth and latest record, Mama, I’m Swollen. (The title kind of says it all, huh?)

Gone since their last album, the acclaimed Happy Hollow, is super drummer Clint Schnase, leaving behind core members Kasher (who handles most of the instrumentation) and bassist Matt Maginn. The loss of Schnase signals an immediate shift in sound, with many of the more heated - almost “math rock,” even - twists and turns, replaced here by a somewhat slower, safer sound. And while Kasher does seem to be cooling off a bit as his career progresses, he’s still using Cursive as the rock n’ roll answer to his other band, The Good Life. He’s still swearing way too often and yelping like an 18-year-old - an odd juxtaposition considering the serious topical themes within his songs.

Speaking of those themes, how emo can one guy get? Much of what Kasher writes/sings is clever and even thoughtful (he often sings here about religion, family and “getting old”), but damn if he’s not one of the most sensitive and dramatic grown men you’ll find within the pages of Rolling Stone. His vocal style, too, hits new dramatic heights, yelping his way through most of the more upbeat tracks in a way that he’s done now since the release of Domestica - one of the chief early influences on the current emo generation. But there is variety here, too. Kasher hints here and there at The Good Life sound, sometimes slowing down and calming his bark in favor of a more folk-tinged slant. The variety works well, even if it may lose a few of the longtime fans longing for the old Schnase-backed days.

If Happy Hollow was the kind of critical success that brought its maker a new spotlight and 2003’s The Ugly Organ stands as one of the decade’s biggest indie breakouts, then Mama, I’m Swollen, which was by comparison met with very little excitement - not so much a flop as it is a transitional record that sees it’s maker outwardly wondering where to go next. Should Kasher keep on with the youthful sound of Cursive, or should he focus on the more mature sounding records he’s been making under his The Good Life moniker? If you ask me, Kasher’s The Good Life vehicle has been a smoother running machine for some time now (see 2004’s Record of the Year and 2007’s Help Wanted Nights for proof).

With his longtime pal Conor Oberst (the two went to high school together and often share the studio) also seeming to slow his creative juices, one has to wonder if this whole Omaha/Saddle Creek thing might finally be hobbling along, longing for the days when indie kids still loved a good man-child with a howl and a guitar. Mama proves that its maker is still a great yelper, guitarist and writer, surely, but its confused nature hardly demands the repeat listens of Kasher Past.  6/10

Written by G. William Locke