The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I (Album Review)

 

The Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I

(1999)

My copy: 2011 limited reissue with bonus tracks by Barsuk Records.

After building up steam through the mid 90s with two full-length releases, The Dismemberment Plan had reached the zenith of their sound in 1999’s Emergency & I. Spanning 12 operatic and demented rock songs that borrow from a slew of subgenres, the album’s biggest catch is its further synth experimentation, with the band often coating songs in slick, droning keys that exaggerate the frequently cold demeanor of the music and lyrics. 

Easing in, the squirting bass and simple rhythms of “A Life Of Possibilities” may fool you at first. Chords rattle with each strum as guitars calmly ascend scales over Travis Morrison’s voice, which is delicately swinging between a middle register and falsetto. Even as the opening song becomes more forceful, it only hints slightly at the dystopian themes that are coming soon. The schizophrenic vocal and instrumental syncopation of “Memory Machine” is jarring and captivating, with a swirling synth atmosphere filling what space is taken up by the lively rhythm section. The bass is truly one of the driving forces of the record, as it leads the melody frequently, flip flopping through dissonant movements with ease. The big single “What Do You Want Me To Say” is anthemic in a tasteful way, toying with emo music mostly through Morrison’s exaggerated howling. 

A song like “Spider In The Snow” is an excellent example of how paramount proper sequencing is - the song slows the pace of the record perfectly, without fully halting the momentum thanks largely to the leading shuffle of the drums. The mood is now introspective and quaint, with nostalgic synth blankets chronicling the mundane nature of everyday cycles. 

The lights dim further on “The Jitters” where haunting guitar arpeggios lead an uneven noir tune into their darkest tangle with dissonance. The Dismemberment Plan find mastery in their ability to sample other genres while keeping things brief and rapid - there isn’t much in the way of idle repetition here, which can be refreshing for fans of typical post-hardcore genres. “I Love A Magician” is frantic and burning, like Jesus Lizard diluted through electronic effects and keyboards with the ecstatic sci-fi vibe of, say, Brainiac. 

“You Are Invited” delves a little too far into emo music, with some clever arrangement concepts that mostly pan out. It should be noted that their attempt to work in a genuine uplifting message into an otherwise largely cynical genre is worth commendation and they do it better than most. The impressive and off-kilter rhythms of “Gyroscope” make you wonder how they manage to dodge the math-rock tag, while “The City” stands as a fun and slightly danceable synth-rock anthem. The stuttered, foaming-mouth ravings of “Girl O’ Clock” are reminiscent of some early Steve Albini characters, with flashy instrumentals that swap Big Black’s noisy gravitas for a cleaner finesse. 

“8 ½ Minutes” tampers more with rhythm so as to oppose the steady, steamrolling percussion of “Back And Forth.” This pressing includes four bonus tracks on the D-side, with “The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich” and “Since You Died” being good enough that they should have replaced the few duller tracks from the album proper. “The First Anniversary Of Your Last Phone Call” is like a more unpredictable take on Fugazi. 

The genius of Emergency & I lies in pretty much everything that isn’t the guitar. Yes, there are catchy riffs here and there and important rhythm guitar textures but they easily fall behind the layered keys and the intoxicating duo of the bass and drums. Better yet are Morrison’s evocative lyrical concepts, with vocal performances that range from tight singing to Zappa-esque satirical tirades. At times the album is almost too breakneck and rhythmically bumpy, though they also suffer when things dial too close to the onset of emo and pop-punk. Emergency & I, forgiving its minor blemishes, is an amazing record that fuses the best elements of synth music, noise-rock, post-hardcore and punk.