Album of the Year

Good Life - Album of the Year

Album of the Year
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Music CD Cover

Artist: Good Life
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2004-08-10
Music Label: Saddle Creek
Soundtracks:
  1. Album of the Year
  2. Night & Day
  3. Under a Honeymoon
  4. You're No Fool
  5. Notes in His Pockets
  6. You're Not You
  7. October Leaves
  8. Lovers Need Lawyers
  9. Inmates
  10. Needy
  11. New Friend, A
  12. Two Years This Month

Free Music Notes for Album of the Year

Free Music Review: An absolutely stunning album
Hit: 5 Stars

I first knew Tim Kasher's work through his first and other band, Cursive, which is not only still active but just released a new and very fine album, a searing and impassioned dissecting of George Bush and Pat Robertson's Christian America (I'm a Christian myself, but one who finds Bush and Robertson as horrid as does Kasher) entitled HAPPY HOLLOW. While I enjoy Cursive, especially the new album and the earlier DOMESTICA, it is not a band that is in any sense one of my favorites. The band has a very hard edge and while this is something I normally enjoy, I find the music a bit repetitious and somewhat lacking in musical originality. But Lo! and Behold! Kasher undertook a few years ago a second project, one that puts on display Kasher's softer side, instead of hard punk, light pop. I like most of the Good Life's work, but this album is in a class by itself.

If there is one genre of album that has been done to death it is the break up album, in which the songwriter in excruciating detail rehearses the bitterest moments in the break up. This album breathes fresh life into that tired theme. These are among the best break up songs I've ever heard, each song driven not merely by exquisite melodies and a wealth of musical ideas, but marvelous lyrics. All of the songs on the album are lovely but all also possess a bit of a bite. The loveliness masks a great deal of pain. I don't know if the songs are based on an actual break up, but if they are, it was not an easy one.

The album is also a remarkable bargain because you get not one but two discs. The first one is what resulted from the band going into the studio with a full production crew. The second disc consists of Kasher's original acoustic demos and shows how completely the album was conceived before the band went into the studio. Musically, there is no doubt the band disc is the more appealing one. The production is exceedingly fine and the sound excellent throughout. The guest vocal by Jiha Lee on "Inmates," one of the albums finest songs, is also a wonderful touch. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoy listening to the demos. They throw most of the emphasis onto the lyrics, and they can more than sustain attention to them. Both discs are enormously enjoyable.

Though some songs on the album are better than others, there are no truly weak cuts on the disc. It is strong from first to last. The title track is one of the very best. Equally good is the really sad "You're Not You," where the singer finds his ex changed so much since their break up that he wonders if she is being someone she is not, oblivious to the possibility that when she was with him she was not who she wanted to be. The poignantly cynical "Lovers Need Lawyers" actually appeared on a previous Good Life EP by the same name but if anything has improved with familiarity. Contextually it fits the album perfectly. But really, it's all good. What I especially love is the incredible specificity of the songs. I know no details of Kasher's love life, but each song truly does sound as if they are musical descriptions of very definite or at least idealized memories of actual encounters, real conversations. And they do a great job of communicating the brokenness and regret that accompanies the end of a major relationship.

This album is simply a gem. And anyone who primarily knows Kasher's work from his somewhat better known band Cursive should really explore this one. Most side projects sometimes get stuff with a songwriter's weaker material. That is most certainly not the case here. This isn't Kasher's "B" material, just a different set of "A" work.
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