Logo
DiS Needs You: Save our site »
  • Logo_home2
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • In Photos
  • Blog
  • Podcast
  • Search
  • Community
  • Records
  • In Depth
  • Blog
  • Community

THIS SITE HAS BEEN ARCHIVED AND CLOSED.

Please join the conversation over on our new forums »

If you really want to read this, try using The Internet Archive.

Cursive

The Recluse

Label: Saddle Creek Release Date: 16/02/2004

5480
Mike_Diver by Mike Diver January 30th, 2004

They may be responsible for ‘The Ugly Organ’, but there’s little unsightly about this, the second single to be lifted from the Omaha residents’ aforementioned masterpiece. Think swooning strings latched onto bittersweet lyrics and jarring guitars, and you’re there. Roughly._ ‘The Recluse’_ is the sort of song that should be all over mainstream radio like a rash – relegating what passes for indie rock back into the netherworld from whence it came. Tim Kasher’s freakish vocal delivery may startle newcomers to Cursive – his manner echoing the tortured tones of John Congleton of *The Paperchase *– but behind that voice lies a man writing straight from the heart, which is never clearer than when he’s screaming “Once a cheater, always a cheater!” on ‘Once’, one of two excellent b-sides. The other, ‘Adapt’, a tale of unobtainable aspirations, is a slower affair than its predecessors, but still packs an emotional punch that would have most alleged emo bands hanging their guitars up. Feel the pain; it’s luscious.

  • 9
    Mike Diver's Score
Log-in to rate this record out of 10
Share on
   
Love DiS? Become a Patron of the site here »


LATEST


  • Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025


  • Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024


  • Drowned in Sound is back!


  • Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Year: 2020


  • Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter


  • Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing



Left-arrow

Various

Rough Trade Shops Counter Culture 2003

Mobback
5464

The Vines at Camden Electric Ballroom, Camden, Thu 19 Feb

Mobforward
Right-arrow


LATEST

    news


    Drowned in Sound's Albums of the Year 2025

  • 106149
  • news


    Why Music Journalism Matters in 2024

  • 106145

    news


    Drowned in Sound is back!

  • 106143
  • news


    Drowned in Sound's 21 Favourite Albums of the Y...

  • 106141

    news


    Drowned in Sound to return as a weekly newsletter

  • 106139
  • Playlist


    Lykke Li's Sadness Is A Blessing

  • 106138

    Festival Preview


    Glastonbury 2019 preview playlist + ten alterna...

  • 106137
  • Interview


    A Different Kind Of Weird: dEUS on The Ideal Crash

  • 106136
MORE


GREATEST HITS

    Mixtape


    Drowned in Spotify: A vast selection of DiS-cur...

  • 83031
  • Live Review


    The Brit Awards 2025 - Post-Live Blog Analysis

  • 99064

    feature


    DiS meets Pretty Girls Make Graves

  • 14541
  • feature


    CMJ: Murmuring and myths at an American college...

  • 9529

    Interview


    The ineffable joy of pop: DiS meets Carly Rae J...

  • 101425
  • Interview


    DiS Meets Tori Amos: "You have to be able to si...

  • 95677

    Takeover


    British Sea Power's Top 5 Castles in the UK. Ever.

  • 95373
  • review


    Bloc Party - Silent Alarm

  • 7335
MORE

Drowned in Sound
  • DROWNED IN SOUND
  • HOME
  • SITE MAP
  • NEWS
  • IN DEPTH
  • IN PHOTOS
  • RECORDS
  • RECOMMENDED RECORDS
  • ALBUMS OF THE YEAR
  • FESTIVAL COVERAGE
  • COMMUNITY
  • MUSIC FORUM
  • SOCIAL BOARD
  • REPORT ERRORS
  • CONTACT US
  • JOIN OUR MAILING LIST
  • FOLLOW DiS
  • GOOGLE+
  • FACEBOOK
  • TWITTER
  • SHUFFLER
  • TUMBLR
  • YOUTUBE
  • RSS FEED
  • RSS EMAIL SUBSCRIBE
  • MISC
  • TERM OF USE
  • PRIVACY
  • ADVERTISING
  • OUR WIKIPEDIA
© 2000-2026 DROWNED IN SOUND