Good interview with Cursive’s Tim Kasher over at the A.V. Club. He talks about his band’s sporadic output, living in a constant state of suspended adolescence, and not being able to listen to some of his own songs. I’ve always found Kasher an enigmatic songwriter. My first impression of him was as sort of a sensitive emo kid with no internal editor. I came around, even on some of the songs that had originally put me off. By 2003’s The Ugly Organ I was more than sold, and it stands as one of my favorite records of the last ten years. I think the new record, Mama, I’m Swollen, sits well amongst his best work, even if it diverges from what a lot of people think a Cursive record should sound like. Lyrically, he’s still in hyper self-awareness mode, though slightly more mature in his self-flagellation. With that distinctive yowl, he possesses one of the best voices in rock. He can sound like a tortured beast when he yells but then shrink to a tuneful whisper, often in the same breath. I find it amusing that the guy doesn’t really listen to much “hard” music, yet it’s how he makes his living.