Artist bio

It didn’t happen overnight, but after enough hard work yielded such masterpieces as 1997’s ... Is Terrified and 1999’s Emergency & I, Washington, D.C.’s the Dismemberment Plan was nothing less than one of the most exciting bands in rock, underground or otherwise. The Plan’s 1994 debut, !, rightfully sounded like the work of rank amateurs but offered enough XTC-meets-Fugazi charm to get the Travis Morrison-led band off the ground. By ... Is Terrified, The Plan had nailed its utterly unique combination of razor-sharp lyrics, schizophrenic rhythms, and cliche-free songwriting. Enter Interscope Records, which signed the band the following year but then gave it the boot after releasing just a single EP, The Ice Of Boston +3. Unfazed, The Plan went right back to hometown label Desoto and continued to push the creative envelope on Emergency & I and its 2001 follow-up, Change.

Albums by this artist

Change (2001)

Emergency & I (1999)

'The Ice Of Boston + 3' EP (1998)

The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified (Recommended) (1997)

! (1995)

Features

Travis speaks to NATN in 1999:
Published September 8, 1999

Interviews

When It's Time To Change...
November 1, 2001

Changing The Topic...Once Again
April 8, 2001

What Do You Want Me To Say?
March 13, 2000

The Dismemberment Plan

!

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» MARVIN LIN | STAFF WRITER

The Dismemberment Plan ! DeSoto, 1995 RiYL: Brainiac, Les Savy Fav, Shudder To Think

As you step back in time from Emergency & I to The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified to the album symbolized with a simple exclamation point, you discover the natural progression is of a danceable nature. The further back you tread in the Dismemberment Plan's catalog, the more you will find yourself shaking your booty to the latest dance steps. The evidence is in the faster, louder, quirkier, poppier and crazier songs of their debut album.

Aside from the fact that The Plan of the past and present both entangle abrasive guitar work with unique vocals, the Washington, D.C. band has gone through some major changes. The songs from the Plan's past are noticeably more punk and less slick than the more complex and climactic songs of its present. This is not saying that the band's freshman effort is just normal punk rock. It still separates itself from the herd with dissonant chords, surprising time changes and unique song structures -- elements we all love in The Plan's music.

Album opener "Survey Says" is an awkward, Brainiac-influenced, in-your-face punk song. But the song remains unique via its 5/4 time signature during the verses and trademark Travis Morrison screams and yelps. Songs such as "The Small Stuff" and "I'm Going To Buy You A Gun" hint at the pop creativity The Plan came to exploit so well on later efforts. The former features ingredients of songs from Is Terrified, albeit strung together with a different recipe, while the latter has a poppy bounce reminiscent of songs like "Spider In The Snow" from Emergency & I. Elsewhere, "Soon To Be Ex-Quaker" sounds like something straight off the Ramones' Rocket To Russia. The album is appropriately closed with the evocative half-instrumental / half-punk-rawk song "Rusty."

If you were to buy one album to get the essence of The Plan, this is definitely not the one to start with. It's not as full a representation of the band's current repertiore as any of their subsequent efforts. But The Plan's first album will help you appreciate the band's amazing progress toward becoming one of the most unique post-punk indie bands in today's scene. So after you shell out cash for their latest albums, go back and purchase this punk-pop tart, you dig?

MARVIN LIN |