REVIEW: The Dismemberment Plan, Emergency and I (Desoto)
- Mike Pfeiffer
There have been few times in my life when an album speaks so intimately to me I almost mistake it for a close friend. When I was a teenager, the Smiths' first album made adolescence a bit easier to bear. In college it was the Replacements' Tim and Pleased to Meet Me. Unfortunately, it's been years since a record has touched me that way. I've even stopped paying attention to lyrics. But with Emergency and I, The Dismemberment Plan have changed all that. They've opened doors I thought were permanently closed off.
Emergency and I begins with "A Life of Possibilities" making suggestions that "you're nowhere, it's all good." Lead vocalist Travis Morrison uses a falsetto vocal that leads around a path of spiraling guitars and moog hooks. The next track, "Memory Machine," starts off edgy, with some screaming and sci-fi lyrics about a utopian tomorrow. By the third track, "What Do You Want Me to Say," Travis settles comfortably, in a conversational voice that vaguely resembles Paul Simon.
What needs to be said about Emergency and I is that it sounds like nothing else out today. The quirky bits of new wave, funk, soul and hip hop are interwoven in the Plan's indie sensibility, making it organically original. Take "You Are Invited" for instance, a minimal hip hop rhythm that blends into a brilliant alternative pop melody around a simple story about a rave flyer. The next song, "Gyroscope," revolves around a girl and a boy that have each been hurt and are looking for ways to overcome it. The conclusion, "happiness is such hard work..." "The City," my favorite track, flows with a mellow moog and Travis singing about desolation after a break up. The pace and emotion of the song pick up towards the end when Travis shouts "Everything I love/everything I hold dear heads out some time/And all I ever say now is goodbye." At this point I find myself of my seat, screaming along with him.
Transitions from quirky, chaotic stuff like "I Need a Magician" to slower songs such as "The Jitters" flow together seamlessly. The impulse to skip a track isn't even a thought. Twelve songs later, the end comes with "Back and Forth" a sophisticated soulful track that uncannily exclaims 'so throw your hands in the air and wave them like you just don't care" with all the conviction a nerdy white boy can muster. My only regret with The Dismemberment Plan is that I didn't discover them sooner -- this is their third album! I think it's close enough to the end of the year for me to declare Emergency and I my album of the year.
