Isuppose there is some truth in such opinions, but all of the talk aboutlabel-hopping obscures the central truth of HouseWith a Curse: It’s a damn good record. It’s genre-defying in a way thatreminds me of SST’s mid-1980s catalog. Despite claims to the contrary, Coliseumremains rooted in the aggression of hardcore. But there is a certain maturityto the best material on the album that moves it beyond the realm of “shorter,faster, louder.”
AsColiseum vocalist/guitarist Ryan Patterson explains, “I don’t want to do thesame thing over and over again.”
Withthat mentality, the band has drawn from a number of key influences (think ofthe canons of both Touch and Go and Dischord) in a way that only strengthenstheir own unique sound.
Historymay also loom large here because the band called upon a host of scene veteransto help make House With a Curse. J.Robbins (Jawbox), Will Oldham and Peter Searcy (of the underrated Louisville band SquirrelBait) all make appearances throughout the album. Yet the decision to turn tosuch musicians was not rooted in some attempt to drum up interest in therecord; it came out of wanting to work with their friends, particularly in whatPatterson describes as the “close-knit” Louisvillescene. According to Patterson, “The degrees of separation are so minor in Louisville” that it just made sense to include musicianslike Oldham, who is “part of our community.”
Butthe presence of friends like Oldham in thestudio did not turn the making of the album into a feel-good, all-star jamsession; House With a Curse is a grimaffair. Songs like “Blind in One Eye” (a steamroller of a track), “SkeletonSmile” and “Cloaked in Red” are replete with descriptions of time passing, ofthings dyingand the pull of both memory and memorial.
Suchthemes come to a head in “Statuary,” a song that appropriates lines originallypenned by Vic Chesnutt and Rowland Stuart Howard, two artists who recentlypassed away.
“Thelyrics for ‘Statuary’ were written after this time last year when a number ofpeople I admired died,” Patterson explains.
Closerto home, Patterson found himself mourning the death of Sweet Cobra guitaristMat Arluck, who lost his fight with cancer in November 2009. Yet out of suchloss Patterson saw that the music of these artists would continue to exist.“Your name,” Patterson sings as if addressing his departed friends, “your word,your verse, your world, not lost to the statuary.”
Inlight of such events, Patterson is quick to admit that he does “think a lotabout carving out a legacy” for both himself and his band. He wants to be ableto look at the records Coliseum has put out and confidently say, “This is whatI did. This is my imprint. This is my stamp.” It’s as if the events of the pastyear have made him aware of what music can do, both for himself and for others(it’s therefore not surprising that Patterson also explains House With a Curse as an attempt “toreturn the gift that inspired me”).
Suchinsight allowed Patterson to make HouseWith a Curse on his own terms, and he is proud of the results. “I wanted tomake a statement,” Patterson concludes, “and this record is a statement.”Message received.
Coliseum tops a 6 p.m.show at the Borg Ward Collective on Saturday, Aug. 28, with Burning Love, FightAmp and Enabler.
