02/07/12: Cursive - I Am Gemini (2012)

02/07/12: Cursive - I Am Gemini (2012)

1. This House Alive
2. Warmer Warmer
3. The Sun and Moon
4. Drunken Birds
5. Lullaby for No Name
6. Double Dead
7. Gemini
8. Twin Dragon - Hello Skeleton
9. Wowowow
10. This House a Lie
11. The Cat and Mouse
12. A Birthday Bash
13. Eulogy for No Name

     I have been looking forward to this entry since we started this project. Cursive and Tim Kasher are still my favorites. I preordered this Cursive album the first moment I could. I recieved my download of the album 2 nights ago... A wonderful 2 weeks early. I'll be getting my super special edition soon which includes a bunch of fun stuff like a limited vinyl with b-sides that there will only be 500 copies of.
     I have already listened to the album 3 times and will be looking forward to listening again with the lyrics in front of me. This album is a return to story-telling form. It tells the "story of Cassius and Pollock, twin brothers separated at birth. One good and one evil, their unexpected reunion in a house that is not a home ignites a classic struggle for the soul, played out with a cast of supporting characters that includes a chorus of angels and devils, and twin sisters conjoined at the head". I was reading peoples comments on this album and theyre all complaining that there hasn't been a good Cursive album since "The Ugly Organ". I am apparently in the minority on this one because I have loved every cursive album since TUO as well. I thought "Happy Hollow" was an incredible followup to "The Ugly Organ". I'd say "Mama, I'm Swollen" was a bit weaker but still a solid album that was not neaarly as deeply conceptual as their others.
     "I Am Gemini" is a return to the old in a few ways. It is an in depth concept album, It has a cast list and stage directions in the lyric booklet, and its their first CD since 2000's "Domestica" to not have additional instrumentation like the cellist or the brass section that have been featured on older LPs and EPs. I found this album to mix the older Cursive sound with the new. Dissonant guitar riffs mix with driving bass lines as the story is told through Kasher's awesome lyrics. The whole album flows together seamlessly and truely are a cohesive unit. As much as I'm enjoying this album and as much as it is a return to early form, I am left wondering how much more intense this album would have sounded with a cello. Still worth the wait. (038)