Dismemberment Plan
"Change"
(De Soto)

If you like early Talking Heads or Police (not the Syncronicity/Every Breath remix b.s) or XTC (a band that hasn’t sold out in my opinion), then you might like the D.P. Certainly, there is a new music influence as well; a common comparison may be Jawbox. Formed New Years Day 1993, this band of course has many albums – no one-album wonder here. They debuted in 1994 with the single "Can We Be Mature?", signing to DeSoto (the label run by ex-Jawbox members Bill Barbot and Kim Coletta) to release the full-length "!" in the fall of 1995 – yes, the albums called "!". "The Dismemberment Plan is Terrified" followed a year and a half later. After releasing 1998's "The Ice of Boston" EP on Interscope, the group returned to DeSoto for 1999's "Emergency & I" and "Change". In early 2001, The Dismemberment Plan and Juno issued the "Split Release" EP, which featured new songs and covers from each of the bands. For six bucks it is a must have. The last thing I would call them is emo-these guys kick out straight up rock and roll. Critical acclaim is lauded on "Emergency & I" and "Change". Filled with complex time signatures and smooth melodies, this band is very listenable and comfortable, however very fresh upon repeat listens.

"Change" is a very descriptive title for their last full-length release (October 22, 2001), their most cohesive CD to date. They seem to have included the post-punk, funky rhythm that has caused mayhem in the clubs, but have very confidently discovered maturity and balanced lyrics and expanded their horizons of polyrhythms and melody. They have grown (hence the album name "Change", not that they ever had to. The change seems to come from the natural occurance of maturity and growing older. Frontman Travis Morrison captures explicit details in his lyrics to present a landscape of beauty. An example would be on the song "Automatic" - "I could see you through the dirty waves/ Smiling like a vampire as you disappeared beneath the whitecaps.../ I could feel my toes curl through the yellow sand/ As I watched you slip away." This album is not as gooey, romantic as these lyrics seem. Blaming life’s lessons may bring understanding to the lyrics. The song "Secret Curse" sums up the mature songwriting (if you can listen along with the speed of his singing) - "Anonymous hex on flavorless food and terrible sex/ a day of no rhythm a night of no rest". Wow, can you relate?

If anything, check out "Time Bomb" – "I am a time bomb and I only live in that moment in which you die." Maybe the album should have been entitled "Growth" as opposed to change, but hey, they're the experts.

-Marc