No Matter What You Heard Top 11 Albums of 2003 - Page 5

2. Pretty Girls Make Graves — New Romance (Matador). Andrea Zollo and Pretty Girls Make Graves are another band that have refined their sound with brilliant results. PGMG do not drift from the angular art punk of 2002's stellar Good Health. Moreso than its predecessor, however, New Romance manifests efforts by Zollo and company to add breadth to their music with more creative bridges, multiple time-changes within songs, and better integrated electronic manipulations. Some critics have complained that the polished production drowns the punk in their music. Personally, I don't find much difference in the production between this and the band's first release — after all, both were produced by Phil Ek (Built to Spill, Modest Mouse, the Shins...). I think the difference — no, the improvement — lies in the musical differences that I've pointed out as well as in Zollo's more tempered approach to the album's vocals. No song on this album stoops to mediocrity, and, in this era of disposable music, that is quite a rare thing. Download "All Medicated Geniuses" and "Something Bigger, Something Brighter" (links courtesy of Matador). You can also stream their video for "This Is Our Emergency" here).

1. Cursive — The Ugly Organ (Saddle Creek). With The Ugly Organ, the concept album / rock opera in twelve acts, Cursive have established themselves as the most creative underground rock band right now. Like any classical theatrical work, The Ugly Organ has a beginning, in which the dilemma is set forth; a middle, in which the plot thickens; and a conclusion at which time the problem is resolved. The piece opens up as our hero, the young organist in "grotesque costume" takes the stage and addresses an "imaginary audience." The Organ's first two songs, "Some Red Handed Sleight of Hand" and one of the album's best songs, "Art is Hard," set the tone for the album. In the former, a prologue of sorts, singer Tim Kasher writes:

"And now, we proudly present songs perverse and songs of lament/ A couple of hymns of confession and songs that recognize our sick obsession...."

And, then, in "Art is Hard," which opens in grandiose, symphonic fashion, Kasher screams:

"Cut it out — your self-inflicted pain / Is getting too routine / The crowds are catching on / To the self-inflicted song / Well, here we go again / the art of acting weak / Fall in love to fail / To boost your CD sales...."

Yes, this is an album about love, lust, guilt, cleansing, and renewal. While Kasher rants about failed relationships and haunting ghosts of relationships past, he also points out that songwriting, for better or for worse, is his confessional. In the album's middle songs, Kasher tells of love-less flings and sundry relationships with women — his method of coping with a failed significant relationship [Ed. note: Kasher was divorced some time prior to this album]. Through creative literary and musical techniques, Kasher exorcises demons of a painful and painfully important relationship ("Bloody Murderer"). Finally, there are glimpses of hope in the final two songs, "Sierra" (in which Kasher sings of a daughter that may or may not have been) and the aptly-titled "Staying Alive". The lyrics are stacked with double entendres (most obviously, the "ugly organ"), recurring themes and symbolism, and clever wordplay that is not easily discernible from simply listening to the album.

Article Author: Steve Sabo

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