The Good Life

Tim Kasher closed out the 1990s as lead singer and guitarist for Omaha post-rock quartet Cursive, where the group’s forceful sound left little room for the songwriter’s quieter impulses and introspective themes. Over time he stockpiled those gentler pieces, testing them only at occasional coffeehouse performances or among close circles rather than before larger crowds. By 2000, even as a reunited Cursive drew fresh attention, Kasher assembled an entirely separate outfit intended not as a casual offshoot but as a fully committed national touring band devoted to what he termed his “softer rock” material.

He called the ensemble the Good Life, borrowing the official slogan of his native Nebraska and applying it with pointed irony to the band’s often bleak songs. Although a stable roster remained the goal, the debut album, Novena on a Nocturn, issued in 2000, relied on a rotating cast of collaborators. Cursive’s Clint Schnase handled drums, the Faint’s Todd Baechle contributed keyboards, and producers Mike and A.J. Mogis played multiple instruments; the record appeared on San Diego’s Better Looking Records and earned widespread critical praise. Echoing the atmospheric style of the Cure, Morrissey, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and other synth-driven 1980s acts, Novena on a Nocturn centered on Kasher’s recent divorce and lingering regrets, most plainly in the anguished track “What We Fall for When We’re Already Down” and the starkly confessional “The Competition.” Built around drum-machine pulses, understated keyboards, and Kasher’s unadorned vocals, the album proved both arresting and desolate, attracting considerable notice.

With an expanding audience and a growing catalog of songs, the Good Life prepared to tour once a permanent lineup was secured. Kasher again enlisted trusted associates—drummer Roger Lewis, occasional Bright Eyes flutist Jiha Lee, Desaparecidos bassist Landon Hedges, and keyboardist Mike Heim—creating a capable working unit. Extensive road work alongside the Jealous Sound and Superchunk strengthened the band’s profile and prompted a return to the studio in late 2001. As Cursive’s visibility continued to rise, the Good Life signed with Omaha’s Saddle Creek Records. Recording for the second album wrapped in October 2001; Black Out reached stores in March 2002. Two years afterward, the EP Lovers Need Lawyers paved the way for the story-driven full-length Album of the Year. In 2007 the more austere Help Wanted Nights arrived, featuring the stabilized lineup of Kasher, Lewis, multi-instrumentalist Stefanie Drootin, and multi-instrumentalist Ryan Fox, both of whom had previously worked with the group.

Following promotional tours, Kasher issued the Cursive album Mama, I’m Swollen in 2009 and the solo set The Game of Monogamy in 2010, all while maintaining Good Life commitments. Lewis performed with Nebraska groups Conduits and Oquoa; Drootin-Senseney focused on family life and released two albums with her husband in Big Harp; Fox developed solo projects, recorded with Jake Bellows, and launched the label Majestic Litter. Kasher followed with Bigamy: More Songs from the Monogamy Sessions in 2011, the Cursive release I Am Gemini in 2012, and the solo album Adult Film in 2013. That same year he resumed writing new Good Life material for the first time in several years. Conceived as a collective effort once other members contributed songs in 2014, the more guitar-driven Everybody’s Coming Down was tracked in early 2015 and issued that summer, again via Saddle Creek.