Although Cursive released their first full-length album in 1997, they’re typically associated with the emo scene of the early-2000s due mostly to the popularity of their excellent 2003 LP, The Ugly Organ. It’s easy to overlook bands whose popularity hit its zenith during the blog rock years of the mid-2000s. Cursive, however, is not one of these bands. For those who haven’t been keeping up with the Omaha post-hardcore outfit, the group have continued to be active, releasing music throughout the 2010s, and now, with their latest album, Devourer, Cursive plant their flag firmly in the 2020s.
The devourer of Cursive’s album’s title is time. This is evident from the very first track and it carries through as a theme for the bulk of songs on the record. “This is not, what I thought, this life was gonna look like,” lead vocalist and guitarist Tim Kasher repeats on the pummeling outro of “Botch Job”. The comparably mellowed out “Up and Away” continues the theme of time’s regret with the lines, “I thought I’d have a nice lake house, I thought I’d have a few tykes running round my legs.” Devourer’s first quarter wraps with the upbeat “Imposturing”. With its whistle synth and emotive string section, the song easily distinguishes itself without ever feeling like a sore thumb in the mix.
If there is any oddball in the sequence, it’s the pop punk “Dead End Days”, which makes for a peculiar fit if only because of its simple, straightforward structure. The band is in top form on “Bloodbather”, a song that recalls Ugly Organ-era Cursive. The production here is strong. As the song dips and dives along rhythmically, the sound shifts back and forth from in-your-face hard-hitting clarity, with a brass section belting out the melody, and brief lo-fi breakdowns. The downright poppy “Dark Star” forgoes Tim and Ted’s guitar blasts, opting instead for a dancey beat from drummer Cully Symington and a subtle, but no less funky, bassline from Matt Maginn.
Devourer is concluded with the structurally complex “The Age of Impotence” followed by the record’s jazzy ender, “The Loss”. The back-to-back tracks make for strange bedfellows. While “The Age of Impotence” shifts between noisey guitars and hushed moments punctuated with Kasher shouting, motherfucker, “The Loss” has Tim utilizing a gentle croon akin to an old timey vocalist complete with a cabaret style instrumental bit. This all takes place before the record ends with a minute and a half whirlwind that evokes the hurricane bridge from the Beatles’ “A Day in the Life”.
Like time itself, Devourer is a monster. Now on the cusp of fifty, Tim Kasher and his bandmates reflect passionately on everything that life has brought (and not brought) them up to this point while simultaneously staring down, and bracing for, a future where the only certainty is a body slowly breaking down and the inevitable end. For a band approaching their third decade, Cursive has rarely sounded better than they do here. Devourer is among the group’s best full-length albums to date.
Rating: 9.0/10
