Description
The self-titled debut album by the American band project Cush was released on Northern Records in July 2000, distributed by Pamplin Distribution. The album was created at The Green Room in Huntington Beach, California; 12/99-4/00. A collaboration project featuring a host of indie artists, including Michael Knott (who provides lead vocals), Andrew D. Prickett, Blake Wescott, Chris Colbert, Snowman, Eric Campuzano, Frank Lenz, Gene Eugene, Jason 71, Jeff Schroeder, Jyro, Tim Taber, and Wayne Everett.
The Cush manifesto states that the Cush sound can be described as “drone, middle eastern, heavy, rock, epic, magnificent, cross poly-rhythmic, whatever-whatever music.”
New melodic modern rock is an accurate label to pin on the initial release from Cush, except for the “new” part of the equation. All Cush members are seasoned veterans of the Christian rock scene, coming from a variety of musical backgrounds. Led by Michael Knott (LSU, Aunt Bettys) and featuring members of The Prayer Chain, Starflyer 59 and Fold Zandura (among others), Cush is more of a musical concept than an actual band.
Oddly-tuned guitars, slice of life themes and distinguishable, passionate vocals quickly clue the savvy listener as to whose influence most directly drives Cush’s self-titled debut. Yes, Michael Knott, take two steps forward.
«Heaven Sent», which represents love and love lost, leads off the album with lush guitars and is followed by another, slightly cheerier relationship song, «Crush Me». Knott continues his streak of strangely beautiful songs that have “bomb” in the title with «The Bomb Was Brighter Than the Stars» (this joins «The Bomb» and «Rocket and a Bomb» from his repertoire), while «The Touch» connects the listener to the gift that is God’s love.
Nine of the 12 cuts are over five minutes in length, which can make the album seem to drag a bit, but this is easily forgivable because of the fine musicianship included within. Knott’s work here isn’t as underground as many of his previous efforts, but in a society where alternative music has become the mainstream, Cush provides a true quality alternative. [Chris McNeece, CCM, September 2000]
The debut album from the entity known as Cush is a disc that has taken my CD player hostage since it first came out this summer. What makes this disc so tasty is that the recipe includes the perfect mix of ingredients: take four parts Prayer Chain and Lassie Foundation, two parts Violet Burning, Fold in some Zandura, add a taste of Honey, some essence of Bloomsday and other spices, and then top it off with a bit of Gene Eugene and Mike Knott. Mix it all together and out comes one of the best discs of the year. It is a wonderful mélange of indie-alterna pop without the pretension from which many other such bands suffer.
Part of the beauty of this album, and band, can be found in the Cush manifesto: “Willing to have anybody play any role, whoever is most suited for it at the time. Willing to be anonymous. Willing to be produced. Sharing, being selfless, letting go… Music being able to be performed in any way, by any combination of people, in any setting… One instrument per part, one player per part. Minimal overlapping of tones… CUSH is not a solo project. CUSH is not a band.”
So while this band may consist, for the time being, of Mr. Knott, it is certainly not just another Knott side project. In fact, the impetus for the band lies primarily with Andrew Prickett and some of his Prayer Chain cohorts. Others on the album include Wayne Everett, Frank Lenz, Eric Campuzano (the man behind Northern Records), the late Gene Eugene, and Snowman, along with Tim Taber, Jeff Schroeder, Blake Wescott, Jyro, Chris Colbert, and Jason 71. Some of these guys played a much larger role, but when you look at the liner notes, the credit line that stands out is the refreshingly anonymous, “All songs written, performed, produced, and engineered by Cush.” You get the feeling that if you saw this band play live, you’d never know who would be up on stage on any given night, and the next album just might be a whole different group of players.
The album begins with the heartbreaking «Heaven Sent» where the singer pleads with a young child to “tell your mother don’t give up on me.” Most of the songs on this album deal with either the joy or pain that can be associated with love. At times it is hard to tell whether the object of affection is an earthly object of desire or the heavenly Father, but in many cases it doesn’t matter: they can work on both levels, with the temporal and eternal intermingling quite comfortably.
Other high points on the disc (and there are no low points) include «Starry Starry Seas», «Arching Heart», and «Shining Glory». Then there’s «The Touch», with its retro sound and pop-culture nods to Bowie and the Beatles. Equally impressive is the trippy «Porpoise», with its jazz-tinged performance and probably the most “spiritual” lyrics on the disc: “imminent glory is creating loving forgiving encouraging lifting gifting unrestricting hands of the maker.”
The album ends with «The Smallest Part», which begins with the confessional “I’m an empty man swimming for the prize, folding up my hands for the fool inside,” which moves onto the plaintive “Christ crush my head, break those cloudy skies.”
From start to finish this album is strong both musically and lyrically. And unlike most “supergroups” out there, it does not disappoint. As the Manifesto points out:
“CUSH praises like Gospel and wails like Rock and Roll… CUSH sounds familiar, like the best songs you’ve ever heard, but feels new… A CUSH song does not have to be 3:30 long. A CUSH song can be 68 minutes long. A CUSH song is already a greatest hit.”
Long live CUSH! [Ken Mueller, The Phantom Tollbooth, 11/26/2000]
CD tracklist:
01. Heaven Sent – 6:17
02. Crush Me – 3:28
03. Angelica – 5:10
04. Good Times – 4:48
05. The Clouds Are All The Same – 5:32
06. Starry Starry Seas – 4:36
07. Arching Heart – 6:37
08. Shining Glory – 6:05
09. The Touch – 5:14
10. Porpoise – 5:26
11. The Bomb Was Brighter Than The Stars – 6:29
12. The Smallest Part – 5:44
Note: Available at Bandcamp: https://northernrecords.bandcamp.com/album/cush
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