It turns out that if you don't make an album for six years, you might end up with a lot of ideas for songs. That was certainly the case with
Tim Kasher and his bandmates in
Cursive. After 2012's
I Am Gemini,
Cursive didn't deliver any fresh music until
Vitriola came out in 2018. By that time, they had written enough songs for a double album. But rather than send out a two-disc set, where they felt some of the material might get lost in the shuffle, they opted to split the bounty into two separate releases, and
Get Fixed arrived 12 months after
Vitriola.
Vitriola and
Get Fixed certainly work as separate entities, but it's not hard to tell that they have a shared ancestry, with
Get Fixed possessing a sound and attitude that's much like its sibling. That said,
Vitriola was a strong and well-crafted effort that reflected the anger and anxiety that's business as usual in America as the 2010s give way to the 2020s, and the same can be said of its follow-up.
Get Fixed pulls no punches as
Cursive vent about race and class division ("Barricades"), dead-end lives in dying communities ("Black Hole Town"), mass media that's better at suppressing ideas than spreading them ("Content Conman"), the emotional numbness that comes with the unrelenting spread of authoritarianism ("Looks What's Become of Us"), and the grim knowledge that none of us are exempt ("Vultures").
Cursive are a bit less speedy than they once were, but the gravity and ferocity of their attack is as strong as ever on
Get Fixed, and the angular shards of sound and precise volleys of guitar, keyboards, horns, strings, and drums are an ideal complement to the rage and confusion of these songs. And "Marigolds" isn't cheery in its snapshot of someone watching the last spark of their life slipping away, it's also a reminder that there is a genuine compassion and heart behind this album's bilious tone.
Get Fixed is another bitter but meaningful State of the Union Address from
Cursive, as well as evidence that when the band's creative process shifts into gear, they can deliver both quantity and quality.