Dismemberment Plan

Monday, June 2, 2003

It’s a tough call to make without thinking about it more, but I think the Dismemberment Plan show I just got home from may have been my favorite rock show so far this year. For the past year or so I’ve listened to quite a bit of DPlan (as they say) — I just really get into the lyrics and songwriting more than I do nearly any other (rock) band out there.

Anyway, apparently this is their farewell tour, so if you live in Austin, um, sorry. They will be out on the west coast in a few weeks and I highly recommend giving them a try. And I think Brenna will find the lead singer quite cute.

What else? Oh, Octopus Project opened and did a solid OP job with their loopy rock-out noise jams. And Zykos performed a passable rock set, but nothing to get out of your seat for.

Oh, and the front man for DPlan had the quote of the night with:

“I really love coming to Austin, but y’know if I stayed I’d be afraid I’d wake up one morning hung over and 39.”

Yup.

If you want to get into Dismemberment Plan, give “Emergency & I” a listen. I only know a couple of their albums, but many of the good songs they played tonight came from “Emergency & I” — including “8 1/2 Minutes,” “Memory Machine,” and my favorite blissful “You Are Invited.”

The best way to describe their sound would be to say that they assemble fast, catchy rock numbers with awesome lyrics that are complex enough to be very engaging and original without being complex for complexity’s-sake alone. And their performance style is completely tight and locked down rock fun — without feeling overworked or stuffy.