Cursive

The Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of Song (1998)

couragewasconfused

When Tim Kasher sings the opening line of the album, "Words have no feeling," with the vocals kicking in simultaneously with the drums and bass after a guitar intro, it's hard to believe him. By the end of the album, I'm certain he is a liar.

The Storms of Early Summer: Semantics of Song, Cursive's second album, and first for Saddle Creek, is a very good listen. Despite Kasher's lyrical objections, the words in this CD do manage to convey an incredible amount of feeling and emotion. The vocals are more restrained than on their first album, Such Blinding Stars for Starving Eyes, but with more intense singing than that found on Domestica. The guitar work, to my ears at least, sounds more intricate, but not necessarily better, than the first album. From the first song to the last, there are some very memorable guitar lines, such as the opening riff of "When Summer's Over Will We Dream of Spring" and the ending of "A Little Song and Dance."

While this album does contain some of my favorite songs Cursive has ever done, such as the two previously mentioned, it manages to just miss out on being amazing. Some of the songs, such as "Break in the New Year" and "Proposals," aren't quite up to par with the rest. Also, as two of only three songs longer than four minutes, they seem to drag on and bog down the middle.

Those two songs don't keep the album from being very good, and a definite must-have for any fan of Cursive. If anyone is a fan of the rest of their stuff, I can't see them not liking this. At one point I was sure this was my least favorite Cursive record; now I think it may be my favorite.