Typically late night musical performances are meant for the easy singles, the songs that have a chorus early to get people watching interested. Cursive's performance on Letterman on Friday wasn't that, since the band performed "From the Hips," the moody, slow building track from their new album, Mama I'm Swollen. That Cursive proceed to kill the song in the latter half is sure to make up for the fact that the first minute and a half is mostly just mood-setting that might not translate for late night viewers. Plus, I'm not sure I've heard horns sound this good on late night TV.

Mama I'm Swollen is out now via Saddle Creek. [Stereogum]