Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday March 6, 2003
Cursive
The Ugly Organ (Saddle Creek)
The suffering is over ÷ at least for the listener. Cursive is back and ready show you what it is made of, with an album that is a testament to the band's writing ability. The Ugly Organ is an open look into the heart and mind of a man who is truly tormented by love.
There will probably always be a hint of The Cure in this band ÷ but The Cure could never hold a torch to what Cursive can do, both live and in the studio. Tim Kasher evokes more emotion on this record than Michael Jackson talking about his abusive father. The disc starts off with an explosive edge ÷ lacking in some of the group's previous efforts ÷ and this blast keeps the record spinning at full speed as Kasher spins his tales of loss and rejection.
For the true Cursive fans out there, this will be a pleasant surprise as to what the band is capable of. The group is treading new lyrical and musical ground, and is not afraid to pull any fast moves on the listener. They are able to be great and not be arrogant about it. This is a band that writes about its feelings and then lets the music speak for itself. And what it is telling me is that this album is going to be a real hit ö and rightly so.
÷ Adam Pugh
Molotov
Dance And Dense Denso (Universal/Surco)
Mexico City's Molotov recently appeared on the cover of the Mexican Rolling Stone. Most surprising is that there is a Mexican Rolling Stone.
Who are these guys? Good question. They are supposedly "controversial" because they dis President Bush, his evolving war on Iraq, border patrols and other popular right-wing projects. It is nothing new to show opposition to the United States these days. So what else is up their south-of-the-border sleeves?
It's hard to say, because unless you speak Spanish, you'll be more lost than Michael Jackson in a room full of underage girls.
Despite their political convictions, the first attempt at comprehensible English lyrics on this disc deals with food-related sexual innuendos ÷ namely with buns, bony Oscar Meyer bologna, rump roast, whipped cream in a pie hole · that's enough. "Changuich A La Chichona (sic)" is sure to be an instant anthem for third-grade Casanovas everywhere and cause an epidemic of milk running out of lunchroom noses.
However, with "I'm The One," they manage to pull off a convincing rap-rock record that actually sounds decent. Fred Durst: Take note here.
This band fluctuates from punk to stoner/rap rock to traditional Mexican flavors to bouncing club music. It's so all-over-the-place, it's a shame that my remedial Spanish-speaking dialect cannot understand more than two songs' worth of verses in an 11-song album.
To all Spanish bilinguals: Give it a try, and then let me know what the hell is going on.
÷ Kevin Smith
Reggie and the Full Effect
Under the Tray (Vagrant)
You may be asking yourself: "Where has Reggie been?" Well, he is back from touring around the world, and he took his time compiling this collection of genre-bending tracks made for your pleasure. For those of you who don't know Reggie, he likes to party. Right now it's about 1986, and Miami Vice is hot. Pulling beats and sounds straight from the '80s, he reproduced some of his funniest of tracks to date.
Although the musical landscape jumps from hardcore to dance music, Reggie is still up to his old tricks of combining music and humor in every track, sometimes even taking the time to woo you with a ballad.
Reggie has many sides and is willing to show each one off with flair and originality. If you don't know who or what Reggie is, I'm sure not going to tell you. But I can tell you one thing: If you like stuff that rocks, wiggles and giggles, you will love Reggie.
"Spell out D-O-O in doom and doom backwards is mood/ and I'm in the mood for you girl," (from the song "Ain't Gettin' Paid To Dance") ÷ if you can grasp the humor in that, then Reggie is someone you want to get to know a little better.
÷ Adam Pugh
