EP

Description

The self-titled eight-track CD-EP by the American alternativ rock collective Cush was released on Northern Records in July 2001. A rock & roll disc recorded by Chris Colbert.

Last year’s debut album from Cush proved to be one of the best albums of the year, bringing together a boatload of talent to produce a dreamy, trippy disc. Well this year, the band is back with a whole new sound. Previously available only to those who attended Cornerstone, the limited edition Cush e.p. will soon be available to those of who couldn’t make it to Bushnell.

This time around, Cush serves up a louder, rockier, more uptempo disc, rooted heavily in 70s punk and 80s new wave. And while it sounds like an entirely different band, the core is still here, featuring Eric Campuzano, Wayne Everett, Frank Lenz, and Andy Prickett. Gone are Mike Knott’s vocals, but sharing the microphones are Everett, Scott Mallone (Lenen), Michael Pritzl (The Violet Burning), and Travis.

From the noisy opening track «Halo Sounds» through the rambunctious «Rev it Up», to the more melodic «The Brightest Light» (can anyone say Modern English?), this album is just pure fun. And be careful if you try to look too deeply into the lyrics. I hear the words, I read the words, but I’ll be durned if I can tell what the heck they’re talking about most of the time. But they are fun just the same. Some of the lyrics seem like pure nonsense (“Rabbits run where furs become the beating of hearts”), but there are a few more poignant and spiritual moments. And all in all, this is a good disc that is much too short. It’s a good thing the band is already working on its next full-length. [Ken Mueller, The Phantom Tollbooth, 10/9/01]

If you came of age in the late 80’s/early 90’s as I did, you will think Cush’s EP is an undiscovered gem from that era. There are eight songs here that evoke memories of Echo & the Bunnymen, Love and Rockets, the 77s, the Ramones, and Steve Taylor.

«Rev it Up» is an alternative song mixed with British punk with a dash of The Doors woven throughout. «Blessed to Kill» plows straight ahead, then references the Ramones by inserting “gabba gabba hey” into the chorus! «Sailing Sounds» is a pop song that uses Beatle-like transitions from verse to chorus. 80’s alternative mixed with Steppenwolf guitar is the only way I can describe «A Rock and Roll King».

«The Brightest Light» features vocals that recall Ian McCulloch’s best work in Echo & The Bunnymen. Fantastic guitar work prevails through the entire project. I don’t know if EP was meant to serve as a period piece, or just to show that great music can be made without following the current trends, but the eight songs here leave me hoping that Cush intends to release a full album, and that this isn’t a one off. A welcome return to a better time in music. [Brian A. Smith, The Phantom Tollbooth, 10/20/2001]

Although the colleagues of Cush hail from some of Christian music’s most successful and revered alternative rock bands, tagging its collection of artists a supergroup seems somewhat of a misnomer. To be sure, the group’s membership includes players from such highly esteemed alternative outfits as the Violet Burning, Duraluxe, Fold Zandura and the Prayer Chain, among others. But, in the words of the members themselves, Cush is more of a concept than anything else and, as such, is represented by a like-minded, but constantly shifting, roster of writers and musicians rather than by a formal band. Regardless, though, of how one chooses to define the group proper, the collective’s second effort, the Cush EP, represents an ideal opportunity for the Cushites to shelve convention and explore a less structured, and more abandoned, approach to music making than might otherwise be available to them in their respective band settings.

To this end, the Cush collective succeeds splendidly. The EP-opening «Halo Sounds» bolts out of the starting gate like a champion thoroughbred and, from that point on, the band rarely stops to look back. «Sniper’s Morning» and the equally lively «Anchor Deep» are filled to overflowing with the loose, sludgy guitar riffs and delightfully rowdy attitude that inhabited ground-breaking late ’60s proto-punk stylings of Detroit’s MC5. «The Brightest Light» is a similarly authentic-sounding nod to melodic ’70s glam rock, down to its Bowie-like vocal inflections. «A Rock and Roll King» lifts guitar and synth riffs from «Baba O’ Riley», «Can’t Explain» and «Won’t Get Fooled Again» for its boisterous salute to the British Invasion hard rock stylings of the Who. And «Rev It Up» is a hoarse-throated, all-out barrage of garage band rock & roll that teeters, gloriously, on the verge of falling apart. On the lyrical front, with lines like (Jesus, save our souls!/ Jesus, rock and roll!) and (Got a lot to say/ Gabba gabba hey/ Jesus saves), one is never truly sure if the band is paying tribute to the music it emulates or merely sending it up. But, given that the results are this gloriously high-spirited and well-executed, the answer hardly seems to matter. While the members of the Cush commune have, by and large, forsaken the dreamy emo rock musical backdrop and tangential, semi-poetic lyrics of their impressive self-titled debut, they have, at the same time, traded them for a writing style that is both earthy and immediate. And, given the magnificent way that the Cush EP has turned out, one is ultimately hard-pressed to object. [Bert Gangl, The Phantom Tollbooth, 11/4/2001]

CD tracklist:

01. Halo Sounds – 1:58
02. Rev It Up – 3:06
03. The Brightest Light – 3:33
04. Blessed To Kill – 2:07
05. Sailing Sounds – 3:41
06. Anchor Deep – 3:00
07. A Rock And Roll King – 6:18
08. Sniper’s Mourning – 2:14