Tag Archives: emergency & i

#831: The Dismemberment Plan – Memory Machine

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A common theme that I realised runs through The Dismemberment Plan’s 1999 album Emergency and I is that in every song, the verses never sound quite right. Upon first listen, there’s always an odd not being played or the rhythm’s always changing and coming down on the offbeat. They’re never played very normally. Then the choruses come in and your floored by how melodic and memorable they are. The hooks on this album are really unbelievably good, especially those in the more rocking, frantic numbers. ‘Memory Machine’ is one of my favourites on there.

I remember listening to the track for the first time hearing how the bass stops and starts with the erratic drum pattern in the back, and trying to make out what was happening. Travis Morrison mumbling these words underneath this rhythm section, then it’s suddenly a few seconds of just noise before he actually gets into the first verse. There’s a lot of anxious energy built up in those opening moments. But when that first chorus hit, all the lights seemed to switch on. From then on, it was somewhat easy listening. ‘A Life of Possibilities’ had left me intrigued, but it was ‘Machine’ that properly made me excited for how the rest of the album would turn out.

The song’s about wishing to be immortal while having all of our bad memories removed from our systems so we won’t be overwhelmed by them. Basically about being turned into robots, because if we’re our lives are being made easier by the innovations in technology, then why can’t we be machines ourselves? Travis Morrison brings up some good points in this song. But I also think he depicts the horror it would be if we were all turned into robots, the way he’s screaming the very first part of the song to the listener at the end. It’s a track that’ll make you think, but also leave you feeling very pumped up when it’s over.

#738: The Dismemberment Plan – A Life of Possibilities

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Think it was 2013 when I tried to listen to The Dismemberment Plan for the first time. I was on my Pitchfork tip during that time, trying to hear ‘new’ albums particularly in the indie scene. And Emergency & I, the band’s album released in 1999 is considered to be something of a classic in that genre. I went onto YouTube, searched for this track, listened to the first few seconds and really wasn’t into it. Why was this man singing like that? And what was with the squirty keyboard bass? Get that outta here. That was more or less my line of thinking from what I can recall. This was a major error.

Fast forward a few months later. I was in my first year of university and decided to really sit down and give the full album a listen. ‘A Life of Possibilities’, if you don’t know, starts Emergency off so there were the strange vocals and the keyboard bass again. But this time those two things sounded great together, and were backed with an undeniable groove too. This is what happens when you give a song more than a mere few seconds of your time. Then the dueling guitar hook came in and I was instantly hooked. If there is one thing about Emergency & I that I appreciated straight from the bat, it’s that almost every track has a great chorus. There’s no proper chorus in ‘Possibilities’ but those harmonizing guitars act as one, coming in between each verse in which singer and lyricist Travis Morrison goes on about – I think – someone who isolates themselves from society but finds that at some point they’ll have to get out there to truly live their life.

So yeah, do check out Emergency & I if you have the time. Don’t be like me when I was seventeen and disregard it because you don’t like a few sounds on it. The record is suitable for those going through their quarter life crisis, or just those who have hard times growing up in their 20s. That’s a large demographic.

My iPod #479: The Dismemberment Plan – Gyroscope

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I got round to listening to The Dismemberment Plan’s cult classic Emergency & I sometime in late 2013, and it was another one of those times where I listened to an album the whole way through for the first time and thought: “Yep. That was a good one.” Probably one of the quirkiest albums about modern life and growing pains to exist with keyboard-heavy tracks and syncopation present in almost every song, but the way they are delivered along with Travis Morrison’s passionate vocal delivery make each subject matter touched upon in the twelve tracks seem so real and easy to understand. A really good album, you should hear it.

“Gyroscope” is track eight on the album and observes two people who go out for a date. The first verse describes the lady getting ready for it whilst the second appears to describe the male’s feelings after the ordeal. This being set to an irregular time signature that is very hard to get your head around, still is for me today, with minor sounding chords to set the uneasy tone. That is though before suddenly bursting into major key, keyboard-filled, sing-a-long chorus that’s bound to get you off your feet. I always liked that for the final chorus the lyrics then turn their attention to the listener, making it more personal and relatable. And it all sounds so happy until all the instruments stop playing, leaving Morrison to sing the track’s final words on his own just to reinforce that anxious feeling.

Great song. And with that the G’s are done. Thanks for reading. Don’t think I’ve had as much likes for posts for the other letters as I have for G, I appreciate it. Will be back to cover the songs beginning with H soon.