Cursive: The Ugly Organ (organ splatter coloured vinyl) [RUN FOR COVER]

Why you'll love it

This organ splatter pressing is limited to 3,000 copies and comes with a lyric sheet and a 12x24 inch poster, cut from the original master recordings. The Ugly Organ is a three-act concept album that pushed emo into art rock territory.

This edition

• Organ splatter coloured vinyl
• Limited to 3,000 copies
• Lyric sheet included
• Poster included

About the album

Cursive came close to stopping altogether in 2002. A European tour with the Appleseed Cast left the Omaha band exhausted, frontman Tim Kasher ended up with a collapsed lung, and they cancelled the remaining dates. Instead of resting, they started writing, and the result was the most ambitious record of their career.

Recorded at Presto! in Lincoln, Nebraska, with Mike Mogis and Kasher producing, The Ugly Organ follows a character called the Ugly Organist through love and life in three acts. Gretta Cohn's cello saws through the guitars, and guitarist Ted Stevens co-wrote some of the material this time. "Art Is Hard" is a sharp, catchy look at making art for an audience, "The Recluse" is a heartbroken standout, "Butcher the Song" lurches and snarls, and "Staying Alive" builds into a long, cathartic closing chant. Interludes and segues stitch it all into one continuous piece, and critics reached for The Cure's Pornography and Public Image Ltd by way of comparison.

The liner notes are written like a script, with stage directions beside every song. That makes it the rare indie rock album you could, in theory, audition for.

Also at Kops: more Cursive on vinyl · browse Alternative

Tracklist

Listen

On Saddle Creek / Run For Cover (cat# RFC307), a reissue of the 2003 album.