BY NICK GAW

In print | November 1, 2007

Side projects are strange things. There is a unique set of stresses that plagues artists as they write music for multiple acts. Paramount among those difficulties is finding that line that separates the acts, necessitating the existence of the side project. For many, the line is easily drawn between musical genres. For Tim Kasher, the songwriter behind Cursive and his side project, The Good Life, the line is trickier to pinpoint.

Cursive, Kasher’s main effort, has a history of rocking a bit harder than The Good Life, but in many places the lines blur. The Good Life has long been seen as a vehicle for Kasher to dump any material that refused to fit on a Cursive album. But in 2004, with the release of The Good Life’s third full length, “Album of the Year,” it became clear that The Good Life wasn’t kidding around. “Album of the Year” had a great gimmick – a song for each month of the year.

Each of the tracks was intensely narrative, dominated by stories of broken relationships and alcohol. “Album of the Year” also took the band in a very different direction – away from pseudo-electronica and towards a folk pop sound. It has been three years and one Cursive record since that album, and now, The Good Life has returned with a new record.

“Help Wanted Nights” is The Good Life’s latest record. This one, like the last, is a concept album. “Help Wanted Nights” takes much of its material from a screenplay Kasher wrote about a stranger in a small town who quickly finds himself involved in the lives of local bar-goers.

The album is less personal and less narrative than “Album of the Year.” Kasher makes a deliberate attempt to leave space for the listener’s own experiences on the record. All of these songs evoke familiar emotions and the true talent of this album is in making any unfamiliar sentiments uniquely personal to anyone who gives the record a spin.

As a whole, “Help Wanted Nights” moves a little quicker than much of Kasher’s work. Tracks like “Keely Aimee” and “Playing Dumb” deftly truck the album through familiar pop sounds. Sweeping guitars and drum brushes unite the record under an unassuming simplicity.

“Heartbroke,” the album’s first single, clocks in at just under two minutes and is a prime example of The Good Life’s current direction. Within a few seconds, the band sets a mood that can only be called “jaunty.” Over the boogie, Kasher laments about heartbreak and a guitar wails. As quickly as it started, the song is over. This is some of the tidiest songwriting in Tim Kasher’s career, and it works really well.

At nearly 11 minutes, the last track on the record comes from a distinctly opposite logic. “Rest Your Head” takes a while to get going, but around minute five, The Good Life breaks out. The back half of this track really rocks. Then, unexpected ambient synths wash out the band and return the track to its minimalist beginnings.

As a big fan of “Album of the Year,” I feel pushed to make comparisons between that record and “Help Wanted Nights.” The Good Life has certainly changed direction a bit since 2004 and Kasher has certainly sharpened his songwriting. Both records are great, but here on “Help Wanted Nights,” The Good Life is focused more than ever before. There are also parts of the record that call out to Kasher’s last project, Cursive’s album “Happy Hollow” – notable religious imagery, for one.

“Help Wanted Nights” is deliberate, a carefully constructed piece of work that stands alongside Kasher’s best work. Together with the band’s past successes, “Help Wanted Nights” is pushing The Good Life out of Cursive’s shadow. It’s clear that from now on, this band is just a side project no more.

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