BY MOLLY TEMPLETON
Kasher’s songs
spark an intensely
personal reaction
among listeners, a
reaction due in part
to his confessional
but saccharine-free
lyrics.
to be this cycle, but it didn’t work out. But
he’s not sure Album worked out either. “I
thought I was writing this really linear,
cohesive collection of music, but it came
across to a lot of people as 12 vignettes,
short stories with a similar subject. Some
people got it. I wasn’t accurate enough, or
descriptive enough. But that’s OK.”
Both with Cursive and The Good Life,
Kasher’s songs spark an intensely person-
al reaction among listeners, a reaction due
in part to his confessional but saccharine-
free lyrics. It’s strange, then, to be in a
room where people are pumping their fists
in the air without a shred of irony as
Kasher yells, “Cut it out/ Your self-inflict-
ed pain/ Is getting too routine,” in
Cursive’s “Art is Hard.”
“I think about that too much,” he says.
“I think about it enough that I bounce back
and forth whether or not I want to keep
playing and releasing music. It’s a lot of
internal conflict for me. I don’t think it’s
wrong at all, it’s just … I don’t know.”
Kasher pauses, and adds, “That’s really a
whole different article.”
ew
Short Stories, Renegade Songs
Tim Kasher brings The Good Life to Eugene.
That sounds about right.
This week’s visit might be a little dif-
ferent for Kasher, who’s headed to town
with The Good Life. Kasher’s last three
releases — Cursive’s The Ugly Organ and
The Good Life’s Lovers Need Lawyers EP,
a collection of “renegade songs,” and
Album of the Year — have a mountain of
glowing reviews between them; The Ugly
Organ appeared on more than a few best-
of lists at the end of 2003. Following
jaunts through Europe and Japan, The
Good Life are on the brink of a second
U.S. tour for last fall’s Album of the Year,
the band’s third album.
D
espite a brief residence in
Portland awhile back, The Good
Life (and Cursive) leader Tim
Kasher hasn’t been to Eugene since he was
10, when he visited a nearby relative. “I
remember walking around a cute little
downtown,” he says. “And I had gone to
the river to pick up crawdads.”
The Good Life, The Velvet Teen,
Bella Lea, Consafos
WOW Hall • 8:30 pm
Friday, April 22 • $8 adv/$10 dos
Album isn’t exactly the self-aggrandiz-
ing title it might appear. Musically, it’s a
conscious shift to a stripped-down,
acoustic guitar-based sound — a step
away from the burbling synths, plinking
keys, doubled vocals and electronic
impulses of the band’s previous album,
Black Out, a remarkable, bipolar paean of
self-analysis.
Lyrically, Album is the story of a rela-
tionship, one year long, one song per
month, laid out in the CD booklet as a
small calendar. The year-long cycle was
something Kasher had in mind for some
time; he says Cursive’s Domestica wanted
VE
©2005 PABST BREWING COMPANY
Wetsock
With influences ranging from Sublime, Op Ivy, The
Vandals, and The Violent Femmes, Wetsock refuses
to compromise their artistic integrity whether they
are denouncing Columbus, praising commodes, or
learning life’s lessons. They have set out to save
rock and roll! These boys are on a mission.
For information on where to see Wetsock this
Friday night check out Eugene Weekly’s clubs grid
or www.geocities.com/wetsockmusic.
ON SALE
FRIDAY
at 10AM
GORGE AMPHITHEATRE
FOURTH OF JULY WEEKEND
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
JULY 2 & 3
Tickets available online at www.ticketmaster.com or hob.com, at all
Ticketmaster outlets, or charge-by-phone (503) 224-4400
APRIL 21, 2005 27