The Good Life

The Good Life

The Good Life is an indie rock and folk rock group from Omaha, United States, led by Tim Kasher. It starts as a solo songwriting project for Kasher, who uses it to work in a different style from his other band, Cursive, before it grows into a full band. The group is active from 2000.

Sound and albums

The Good Life develops from quiet, restrained pop on Novena on a Nocturn to the moody hooks of Black Out, and then to the sing-along, breakup-focused songs on the Lovers Need Lawyers EP. Album of the Year gathers those elements into catchy, melancholy pop rock with a shift between club-like intimacy and more cinematic crescendos. The songs often centre on leaving, being left, or anticipating loss, and Kasher’s writing is noted for turning ordinary phrases into cutting lines.

Members

The group includes Stefanie Drootin, Ryan Fox, Landon Hedges, Tim Kasher, Jiha Lee, and Roger Lewis. Jiha Lee also appears as a guest vocalist on “Inmates” and is identified as a former member.

Related project

The Good Life name is also used for a separate Nels Cline live project built around the music of Ornette Coleman, with Ben Goldberg on clarinet, John Dietrich on electric guitar, Trevor Dunn on electric bass, and Scott Amendola on drums.