Seeing as today is Valentine’s Day it seemed only fitting that our album of the week is a record that discusses every aspect of love – both bad and good. The Game of Monogamy mainly tackles the bad, but has a few heart-warming moments. 

Tim Kasher has always been known as an honest songwriter. In Cursive and especially The Good Life, Kasher told tales of drunken adventures and the lessons learned after each one with very little hyperbole – he told them just as they happened. 

On his latest solo effort, Kasher pulls no punches explaining to the woman he has been with for years that not only does he question their relationship, but he questions the concept of them in general. What makes this cringe worthy,  is that this is not addressed to a fictitious woman, but to a girl he was currently living and sharing dogs with. 

Kasher tells her that the relationship has gotten “cold” and that “used to believe in love, but also (foolishly) believed in God. 

Kasher could be chastised for a the amount of audacity it takes to think the things he says and for the self-absorption needed to write such a record, but regardless, The Game of Monogamy is a brilliantly personal record about a side of love the Valentine cards at Hallmark are too afraid to touch.