Cursive

Saddle Creek Records released The Ugly Organ in 2003. Music magazine Rolling Stone gave the album a 4-star rating, while alternative music magazine Alternative Press rated the album a perfect 5 out of 5. In 2004, The Cure selected Cursive to tour with them on their Curiosa tour, alongside Interpol, The Rapture, Mogwai, Scarling., and The Cooper Temple Clause. Afterwards, the band went on hiatus, with no specified return date. The label put out a compilation album of unreleased songs and B-sides, The Difference Between Houses and Homes, on August 9, 2005. In mid-2005, Gretta left the band to pursue other musical opportunities, and has since formed the Brooklyn, NY-based band Twin Thousands. Instead of replacing her, the band remained four-piece. After Cursive's hiatus, Saddle Creek announced that Kasher had temporarily stopped his work on his side project, The Good Life, to start recording an album with Cursive. The album, Happy Hollow (named for the Dundee-Happy Hollow Historic District in Omaha, Nebraska), was released on August 22, 2006. Its first single was Dorothy at Forty, released on July 11, 2006. With this album, Kasher turned his focus away from self-reflective lyrics to concentrate on what he thought were bad politics, empty suburban lives, and religious hypocrisy. Music Magazines Spin, URB, Time Out New York, and Blender gave the record a 4 star rating, and Rolling Stone gave the album a 3.5-star rating, while alternative music magazine Alternative Press rated the album a perfect 5 out of 5, saying “Cursive haven't just redefined their sound—they've transcended it.” Happy Hollow features a five-piece horn section, adding new texture and redefining the bands sound. In October following the release, the band revealed plans to bring audience participation to its catalog, offering fans a chance to remix its song "Bad Sects" through a competition on the website; the finalist is scheduled to appear as a B-side on an upcoming Cursive single. Cursive's Mama, I'm Swollen was released on March 10, 2009 on Saddle Creek Records. Three days later, the band made their network television debut on Late Show with David Letterman, playing "From The Hips". On the 16th November 2011, they announced that the follow-up to Mama, I'm Swollen would be called I Am Gemini; it was released on February 21, 2012. In May Cursive started its European tour which included Birminghams O2 Academy 2 on 9th June, where they were supported by Kevin Devine and local band Only The Good.