Gotta Sink To Swim: The Ugly Organ Turns 20

The year was 2004. I was a sophomore in HS, minding my business in my last period class, when my (secret) crush came over and put his discman headphones on my ears. This was a regular occurrence every couple months and I never knew if he just felt bad for my loner state or just enjoyed sharing his tunes. That day though was the first time my ears were ever graced with Cursive. The song: Bloody Murderer. The album: The Ugly Organ.

I had never heard anything like it, which wasn’t surprising as this boy also played me bands like the Blood Brothers, At the Drive-In and Rufio. So I was used to the obscure musical gems that blasted through his headphones and into my ears.

So when that cello hit and those haunting vocals started, I was hooked. So as any teenager would do back then (or maybe it was just me) I went down to my local Borders and picked up any and all albums they had by this beloved Cursive band. But even with the purchase of Domestica and Burst and Bloom, The Ugly Organ definitely took precedence.

Now with this album celebrating its 20th birthday, it has me reflecting on how influential it was to me during my teenage years, which let’s be honest, the music we listened to during those years definitely helped shape, comfort and guide us through this crazy journey called life. From tracks like Art is Hard, The Recluse and Sierra ( still apologizing for always yelling SIERRA at my friend Ciara every time I saw her) this album is a dark, beautiful and dare I say somewhat emo masterpiece. Its sound is and always will be original and unique and I don’t think we can ever classify this band, genre wise, as anything other than just Cursive. Here’s to that ugly little organ turning 20, the next 20 and most importantly to Cursive, as they just keep churning out those hits.