Curse Your Branches

Bazan got his start playing to the Christian rock scene, but the narrative arc of his albums has traced his crisis of faith and his questioning of the Evangelical Christian world in which he was raised. Yet, this record is not a final statement, not a "breakup letter to G_d." It's the deepest and most explicit exploration of his struggles to date, and a meditation on all things passed between the generations, and for the first time in a while, Bazan seems actually interested in re-engaging in conversations with the Evangelical community about his doubts (for example, for the first time in years, he'll be playing huge Christian music festival Cornerstone this summer). Curse Your Branches is a masterwork by a modern American poet (Paste called him one of the "100 best American songwriters" in a piece that followed the release of his solo EP Fewer Moving Parts) at the height of his powers.