An adult child’s request for a missing government document encumbered me to dig through boxes of yellowing report cards, fading photos and tear-stained funeral programs. Surveying the ephemera accumulated over a lifetime is an increasingly grim task. My inability to identify many of the deceased ancestors posing in photos is a stark reminder of my own insignificance.
Tim Kasher sorts through a similar set of “maudlin mementos” on "I Don't Think About You", a song on his volatile new chamber rock album Middling Age. The compositions reflecting the melancholic wisdom attained through aging resonate with me more than his work in the indie-rock band Cursive ever did.
“You Don’t Gotta Beat Yourself Up About It” opens with Kasher admitting “I don’t want to be forgotten/I don’t know why this is so important to me.” Kasher concludes by suggesting “This is my life's work: questioning my worth/So what have I surmised? Life's work and then you die.” The end gets closer every day.