The Good Life

Novena On A Nocturn (2000)

Scott Heisel

Tim Kasher, the world owes you a great debt for suffering as much as you have and still being able to contribute some of the best, most heartfelt and emotional music ever written. On one hand, I feel awful myself, for enjoying one man's sorrow and pain so much. Is it okay to love music that was written out of such personal experiences? I feel like I am invading Tim Kasher's room and reading his journal without him knowing; to sum this up in one phrase -- this shit is amazing. No one writes better, more raw lyrics ["The guilt slips from our lips / confessions hidden behind eyelids"; "I'll try to describe the way that it felt, to tell my own Mother her son is a failure"; "What we really want is…just over that hill / And the more I learn, the less I try to climb"]. The music itself is just as creative and moving. I can't decide which I like more: the unadulterated power of Cursive, or the tense, brooding arrangements of The Good Life. Both sound fantastic, both have their high peaks and sweeping valleys [just listen to "Your Birthday Present" or "What We Fall For When We're Already Down"], and both take full advantage of Tim Kasher's incredible lyricism. I probably sound silly, spending so much time just talking about how good these lyrics are, but that's just it: in a society of 4th rate, watered-down "emo", generic skate-punk, and pointless spazzy hardcore [not to mention mainstream music -- ugh], The Good Life shines like the brightest star in the night sky.

MP3s
The Moon Redhanded
An Acquaintance Strikes A Chord

[taken from a different kind of greatness webzine]