Tim Kasher has released four solo albums and another 10 with Cursive (and still more with The Good Life). I won’t pretend to know the full catalog -- my exposure has been more along the “best of” lines. This review isn’t a comparison or “where does it fit” essay. It’s a standalone review.
I felt like I needed to get that out of the way. The next thing I need to say is that this record is fucking sad. The main theme seems to be personal loss, though there are some other sad songs about the state of the world too. It’s about disappointment and adjusting to change, battling through to face another day and another challenge. But it’s also about observing that downer moment and soaking it in. It’s about the deep flaws of being human and about how we often lie to ourselves in doing so.
This has struck me with Cursive too, but Kasher’s delivery comes across as extremely personal -- kind of in that old Saddle Creek way. When the lyrics are first person it’s evocative and almost melodramatic, whereas when the lyrics go third person, more like “What Are We Doing,” the distance adds a narrative quality, an isolated moment captured in a picture. It’s equally emotional but in a very different way. When the lyrics go third person, the music tends to be more upbeat as well, which delivers a stark contrast. And, in a strange way, I think there’s a perverse carnival music bounce at times, as in “Life Coach.” It’s a mark of all his work (other bands too), and Kasher’s unique voice is well-suited to balancing complex, thoughtful questions blended with quirky and wry observations.
I’ll call out “100 Ways To Paint A Bowl Of Limes” as an example of using that upbeat rhythm to punctuate the message and shift the tone without diluting the message. In many ways this song is the tempo shift middle-of-record transition song, but it’s also indicative of the songwriting technique, which is further pushed in the following track, “On My Knees,” which brings a potent piano to the front as Kasher pontificates like a preacher on mushrooms. Naturally, a minute after I first typed that, the lyrics touch on Catholicism. Shortly after, a horn section replaces the piano for a brief moment of triumph, switching back to a higher octave piano as it builds toward a climax. Kasher’s songs are arranged, they aren’t just pop songs.
Songs like “I Don’t Think About You” and “You Don’t Gotta Beat Yourself Up About It” come across as extremely personal (and wordy), and “Whisper Your Death Wish” has a bit of a onelinedrawing vibe. Because of the density and deeply personal vibe, I think that tone overshadows the more outward looking songs, but the album is quite balanced when you listen closely: moments of extreme emotion countered by complex arrangements and unique upbeats.
