The Ugly Organ is the fourth studio album by American rock band Cursive, released on March 4, 2003, through Saddle Creek Records.

[1][2] 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.

"[13] Mogis struggled with Cohn's cello sitting alongside other instruments, before he realised it would be better used as a counterpart to the guitars and Kasher's vocals.

[15] The band were aided by additional musicians: Chris Acker playing trombone on "Art Is Hard" and "A Gentleman Caller"; Jenny Lewis singing additional vocals on "The Recluse", "Bloody Murderer", and "Sierra"; and Mogis contributed vibraphone on "The Recluse", keyboard on "Butcher the Song", bells on "Bloody Murderer", and guitar on "Sierra".

[9] The album's opening track, "The Ugly Organist", is an ambient prelude, acting as the titular character's theme song.

Frankenstein" is a short mainly instrumental track consisting of a cello and guitars, concluding with one line of lyrics: "I can’t stop the monster I created.

[16][19] With "Bloody Murderer", Kasher discusses being a serial killer, while in "Sierra", the Ugly Organist attempts to mend the relationship with a past lover.

[7][5] The closing track, "Staying Alive" is ten minutes long; it begins with guitar and cello parts, eventually leading to white noise and a choir repeating the phrase "the worst is over".

[21] In January and February 2003, Cursive embarked on a headlining US tour, with support from Race for Titles, Neva Dinova, and the Velvet Teen.

[5] Between March and May 2003, Cursive went on a headlining US tour, with support on various dates from Small Brown Bike, No Knife, Engine Down, Minus the Bear, and the Appleseed Cast.

[25] In September and October, the band went on an east coast tour, with the Blood Brothers, Race for Titles, Eastern Youth, and Fin Fang Foom.

[33] Entertainment Weekly said of the album, "Organ raises the Saddle Creek bar in terms of sheer psychiatric-rock intensity".

[5] The reissue, PopMatters' Adam Finley felt, showed how "cohesive", "carefully sequenced", and "flawlessly arranged [and] executed" the record remained.

As well as being "a high-water mark" for Midwestern indie rock, Finley applauded Organ as "a moment of honest clarity" amidst "a notoriously self-mythologizing arena".