The first volume of Noise Real Records’ new “Noise Pollution Series” lands with something the label didn’t have to overthink: Cursive already knew exactly what they wanted to commit to tape. The concept behind the series is simple enough — five 7” releases, each inviting a different band to reimagine one of their own songs — but Cursive set the tone early by bringing in two versions of “The Recluse” that have lived parallel lives onstage for years.
Check out the slowed down version of the song here.
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Tim Kasher comments: “Cursive has been playing a slowed down version of ‘The Recluse’ live for over a decade now. We’ve also goofed around and done the punk rock version a couple of times, primarily just for kicks, haha. We thought this 7” would be a great way to document both versions, so here we are!”
The band’s long-running habit of twisting the song into different shapes gave Noise Real a clean starting point for Volume One — not a re-invention for its own sake, but a chance to capture versions that had already developed a life outside the studio.
Noise Real co-founders Justin Martin and Kevin Clark had been talking about a project like this long before the sessions. Clark remembers the seed of it clearly: “Justin and I have been tossing around the idea of a 7” series for some time. I remember collecting the ‘Post Marked Stamps’ 7”s back when we were younger. Cursive had the idea of recording 2 different versions of ‘The Recluse’ and it basically took on a new shape from there.” Their reference point was less about nostalgia and more about format — the kind of small-run vinyl that treats brevity as a feature rather than a limitation.
The actual recording unfolded fast. Martin describes the session as one of those rare days where everything clicks the moment the band steps inside: “The band walked into my little studio and nailed both tracks almost instantly. They ended up experimenting a bit with the fast version of ‘The Recluse,’ and as a Cursive fan, it was great to peak through the window into how they work.” The two versions aren’t positioned as a statement or a recalibration; they’re more like a snapshot of internal variations Cursive has kept in rotation for years.
For Noise Real, this is what the “Noise Pollution Series” is meant to capture — not reinventions that feel forced, but alternate forms that already exist in the margins of a band’s catalogue. Starting with Cursive sets the frame: a familiar song, two long-tested approaches, and a label leaning into the kind of small-format releases that shaped their own listening history.
