Curse Your Branches

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Curse Your Branches album cover
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EDITOR'S PICK

Total Tracks: 10   Total Length: 38:49

eMusic Review 0

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Kyle Anderson

eMusic Contributor

09.01.09
Pedro the Lion struggles with a crisis of faith on the most affecting album of his career
2009 | Label: Barsuk Records

The problems with Christian rock are myriad, but at the center of the issue is the fact that most religious music is about an ethos that has already been decided upon, and the best rock music should be about asking questions. Dave Bazan spent 15 years espousing his faith as Pedro the Lion, and while he has rarely been bogged down by the natural pitfalls involved when marrying faith to the quiet desperation of first-generation emo, his records have more often than not been so much about the words that the music suffers. Even his crowning moment, Achilles Heel, felt short on tunes.

But Bazan's new album Curse Your Branches, his first released under his government name, makes a profound case for letting the devil in every now and again. Not only is it his most poetic and lyrically complex album, but it also delivers a sense of tunefulness and grit that he has never tapped into before. A humming stew of roots rhythms, organs, slide guitars and Bazan's slightly fractured voice, combined with lively production that is loose without feeling shambling, Curse Your Branches takes wannabe folk tunes like "When We Fall" and "Bearing Witness" and turns them… read more »

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Great album

BrianSnat

I was a lukewarm Pedro the Lion fan as I found the albums to be uneven, with some outstanding songs and some throw away tunes. Control was the exception; outstanding throughout. This record is solid from beginning to end. Bazan's lyrics have never been better. "I swung my tassel from the left side of my cap, knowing after graduation there would be no going back" tells of his change from believer to skeptic and I would be hard pressed to think of a better way to put it. I understand that some fans of Pedro the Lion are disappointed because most are hardcore believers (you have to be hardcore if you listen to Christian rock, most of which is unlistenble, PTL being one of the exceptions) and many of them will not appreciate (or understand) Bazan's new direction. On this album Bazan's musical questions are sincere and deep.

user avatar

absolutely liberating

Sherab

This powerful, melancholy recording is a cathartic work of existentual crises. You get the sense that Bazan had to make this record to just get on. It is absolutely liberating.

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Bazan's Best

brandonsadkins

Following the discography of Bazan is like watching a slow metamorphosis from Christian(-ish) rock's most questioning and edgiest (lyrically) singer/songwriters to someone whose departure from the Church/Christianity in general is nothing he dares hide, even from his wife, who is still a strong believer. Christian fans are still trying to Christian-ize his work any way they can. Everyone else still thinks the guy has close ties to the church. He's really in the middle, and with one of the most open, honest, and autobiographical records in his history as a musician, he's not afraid to say it. His journey is a beautiful one, one that will likely go on and on (to the dismay of some listeners tired of the continued subject matter). But he's not really repeating himself. With each album, whether or not the lyrics are autobiographical, you can see the changes in Bazan. Sure, the subject matter is the same, but his perspective has shifted, and that's what keeps his records exciting.

user avatar

Pure Genius...

jcshenanigans

Definitely some of his best song writing in a long time. From the first to last track, this album is amazing!

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Cool Water in a Dry Land

markcabus

I'd never heard of David Bazan before CURSE YOUR BRANCHES and was compelled to download his album based on a rave review from PASTE Magazine. Bazan's frank yet clever lyrics struck me immediately. They're eerily reflective of my (and many others) struggle with and departure from God and the Church, and yet his music is fresh and deceptively catchy. It's a brave and raw album and one of my favorites for 2009.

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If You Like Pedro's Control

yossarian

It's great when an album starts out with a feeling of dread and then suddenly sparks curiousity and then elation. I had the same feeling about Anchilles Heel as another reviewer and was hesitant about this album. Got to say it is well worth the download. "In Stitches," "Lost My Shape,"Bless This Mess," and the title track are good places to start.

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It's getting old...

Subito

We get it, you've got a beef with God. Move on already! Either make a decision about how you're going to relate to God or move on, but at least find something else to sing about. I don't see what the attraction is for all these Christians too. This guy's someone to look to?

user avatar

Wow.

Ragamuffin74

I love this guy. With Pedro the Lion and now as a solo artist, his melodies and stories have been haunting us since the mid-90s. However, this is his most honest and vulnerable writing to date, and the record contains some of his most beautiful songs. I'm drawn to both his vulnerability and questioning, as well to the artistry of "Curse Your Branches".

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Newcomer

tide.is.level

I wasn't privileged to follow the arc of Dave Bazan's career with Pedro et al; lyrically, this one's a challenge; at best this is a springboard to broader output, at worst it's still reactive(dependent) on a Christian fan-base, which (as one dude put it) can "excellence proof" an artist. But from the first listen this is just a musically above average album with some keen pop hooks, with some lead-heavy lyrics.

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Plesant Surprise!

halfwinter

I was a Pedro the Lion fan for many years, but the last album (Achilles Heel) was a huge dissapointment for me. I could tell he was making an effort to up his production game, but it just sounded SO much like The Counting Crows. So I had little hope for this album. I was blown away. IMO, Curse Your Branches is the great melody and songwriting of older efforts with a nice polished edge. Two thumbs up!

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eMusic Features

David Bazan
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David Bazan

By J. Edward Keyes, Editor-in-Chief

The first time I saw Dave Bazan play live was in 1997. I was wrapping up my tenure at Philadelphia College of Bible (now Philadelphia Biblical University),and Bazan was fronting the band band Pedro the Lion — which, even in its earliest days, was a controversial presence in Christian music circles. Bazan's approach to faith was unflinching, and he exposed the hypocrisy of Christianity as often as he praised its virtues — sometimes more… more »

They Say All Music Guide

David Bazan made no attempt to hide his Christianity with Pedro the Lion, so it’s appropriate that Curse Your Branches — his first full-length release as a solo artist — begins with a reference to the Garden of Eden. “We ate the poison fruit,” he sings over an acoustic guitar, “and now it’s hard to be, hard to be, hard to be a decent human being.” The rest of Curse Your Branches follows in that direction, with Bazan attempting to shore up his own faith in a world of sinful temptation. “Please, Baby, Please” is a folksy love song from an alcoholic husband, and “Bearing Witness” finds the narrator attempting to explain religion to his children. The music is organic and earthy throughout, although the occasional presence of strings and organ reminds us of the relationship (no matter how tenuous) Bazan still has with the Church. In the end, he doesn’t offer any clear answers to the questions that Curse Your Branches puts forward, preferring instead to explore the possibilities of “what could be” without subscribing to any one solution. Doubt can be crippling, but it serves a positive purpose here, since Bazan has rarely sounded so convincing in his vocal delivery and songwriting. – Andrew Leahey

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