Dismemberment Plan - Emergency & I

STANDING ON THE PRECIPICE OF INSANITY

Normally, within Indie the term eccentric lacks substance. It tends to be docile and timid, concerned more with structuring and solemnity than actual experimentation. Not when it comes to Emergency & I; The Dismemberment Plan's lone classic. 'Life Of Possibilities' wastes no time introducing the unusual, as Travis Morrison's kinky vocalizing teeters precariously around uncommon time signatures courtesy of Math Rock and farty synthesizers that wouldn't dare enter the ether of Indie. It's a stilted introduction, one that's thrown even further off-course with tight guitar work and an upending climax. Balancing capriciousness with genuine mass appeal is a feat rarely achieved, but Emergency & I does so time and time again.

Take 'What Do You Want Me To Say?,' the album's sole single and infuriation point. A stirring chorus instantly recognizable, predating early 2000's Pop Punk tactics, is disrupted by grating guitar plucks that stab mockingly during each verse. The simplicity is unavoidable, especially after 'Life Of Possibilities' and the even more convoluted - but not nearly as successful - 'Memory Machine.' You know Dismemberment Plan's capable of more, yet here they taunt, with a radio friendly caricature that obnoxiously works. 'Gyroscope' and '8 1/2 Minutes' eye this same duality, thriving through Morrison's electrifying hooks and the band's knack for post-hook whiplash. The galvanized impulse doesn't always work though, as seen on 'I Love A Magician' and 'Girl O'Clock,' two songs that seemed to inspire Mindless Self Indulgence and their snooty, self-aware Electroclash.

However, Dismemberment Plan's versatility can't be understated. Their purposeful evasion of norms creates some masterful compositions, best seen at the beginning ('Life Of Possibilities'), middle ('You Are Invited'), and end ('Back & Forth'). Here, technical prowess matches with childlike imagination, conjuring ideas ripe for the fodder. In no world should 'You Are Invited' work, with its amateur drum kits and clunky harmonies, but Morrison's equally peculiar lyrical content draws intrigue enough to last until the second, sleight of hand chorus where satisfaction is reached. The crescendo and ensuing downturn leaves just enough for the imagination, something that can't be said for the engrossing, drop curtain of 'Back & Forth.' It has that vintage 90's flourish, with those shredding and surfing guitars, paced brilliantly through live and frenetic percussion. Morrison expels mouthfuls of abstractions, so transitory one can't even begin processing the overall themes. At times, his Spoken Word rap-speak even reminds me of Laurie Anderson on a sugar high. It's baffling yet rigid and centered. A contradiction that applies to the vast majority of Emergency & I, an Indie Rock contrivance for those seeking abnormalities.