The Ugly Organ is the fourth studio album by American rock band Cursive, released on March4, 2003, through Saddle Creek Records. It was released both on black and translucent green 180 gram vinyl. Background and production Following a brief break-up, Cursive returned with the release of their third studio album Domestica in June 2000. It saw the introduction of new guitarist Ted Stevens, previously of Lullaby for the Working Class; he had replaced Stephen Pederson, who went to university. After this, frontman Tim Kasher formed the Good Life, who released their debut album Novena on a Nocturn in late 2000. In July 2001, Cursive released the Burst and Bloom EP, which featured the addition of cellist Gretta Cohn. The release was used to showcase a new sound for the band, which they expected to expand upon on their next album. In March and April 2002, Cursive toured across Europe with the Appleseed Cast. Cursive became exhausted while on tour, with Kasher sustaining a collapsed lung in June 2001. As a result of this, the band cancelled the remainder of their tour dates, and began writing new material. The Ugly Organ was recorded as Presto! in Lincoln, Nebraska, with Mike Mogis and Kasher as producers; Mike and his brother AJ Mogis served as engineers. Doug Van Sloun mastered the album at Studio B in Omaha, Nebraska. Composition The Ugly Organ is an art rock, indie rock and post-punk album, and has been compared to Pornography (1982) by the Cure and The Flowers of Romance (1981) by Public Image Ltd. It is a three-act concept album about the main character the Ugly Organist as they struggle through love and life. The album's liner notes are written in the vein of a script as stage direction are mentioned next to every song. The album plays as a continuous entity, with interludes and segues between the tracks. In contrast to Domestica, which was written solely by Kasher, Stevens co-wrote some of the material on The Ugly Organ with Kasher. Noel Murray of The A.V. Club suggested that Stevens' prior experience in Lullaby for the Working Class where he worked with "long, multi-part compositions surely helped in shaping The Ugly Organ complex structure". Bassist Matt Maginn said the band intentionally "stepped back" in order to "play a broader scope of sounds and style and still sound like Cursive." Mogis struggled with Cohn's cello sitting alongside