Cursive’s sarcasm drowns honesty

Success doesn't come without a price, according to Tim Kasher.

"I'm at my best when I'm at my worst," the Cursive frontman notes on his band's seventh full-length album, "Mama, I'm Swollen."

If only this were actually true.

Of late, Cursive's identity as a band has been lost amid the overdramatic, high school-level lyrics, with Kasher's once admirable honesty taking a back seat to his tacky sarcasm.

What's more, the dynamic dissonance once inherent in the band's rock orchestras has mellowed -- and really, are those flutes we hear?

It has been six years since Cursive's breakthrough album, "The Ugly Organ," and while it's easy to applaud the Omaha, Neb., band's innovations since then, "Swollen" quickly begins to feel redundant as Kasher directs the album through a series of predictable themes.

The disc starts with Kasher obsessing about how "we're wearing out our heels on a road to Hell," then dives into the selfishness and sexuality of humankind, as Kasher believes "(humans) are better off as animals," before finishing with a rant about the Peter Pan syndrome in adults who "take what (they) can get" and "live life duty free."

Throughout the album, Kasher debates whether he's willing to trade his duties and responsibilities for some time on Pleasure Island.

"Isn't it time you act your age?" he taunts as he draws his conclusion.

Here, Cursive ends its rebellious phase and enters a midlife crisis.

Within the repetition, though, hope resides in tunes such as "I Couldn't Love You" and "What I've Done."

The vocals of these emotionally charged, autobiographical songs are treated with the utmost care as they resonate profoundly with the equally intense instrumental backdrop, which can be attributed to new drummer Cornbread Compton and bassist Matt Maginn.

Still, like a one-night stand, "Swollen" is catchy, yet fleeting and easily forgotten. It's a straight shot of depression and agony that rarely strays from the most predictable emo-punk template.

Even die-hard Cursive fans will find it difficult to stomach all the humanity hating.

Granted, "Swollen" rises above the group's previous album "Happy Hallow"; however, it lacks the impulsiveness that attracted so many fans to the band in the first place.