Ryan's Top Ten Albums - Emergency & I - Dismemberment Plan

 Emergency & I - Dismemberment Plan

Released 1999 - Genre: Indie Rock, Post-Punk

Emergency & 1 is the third album from Dismemberment Plan, and by far their most popular release. It is cited by many as being a major turning point for indie rock, and many aspects of the record feel very ahead of their time. Touching on lyrical themes of loneliness and feeling disconnected in an age of information only became more relatable decades after the release of the album, with social media becoming a dominating factor in many of our lives. Emergency & I is a very vulnerable and introspective album for it’s frontman Travis Morrison, as many of those lyrics come from his own life experiences. While introspective, the album still delivers it’s share of hard rock tunes that callback to the band’s earlier punk roots. Alternative newspaper The Village Voice stated that "the only way [The Dismemberment Plan are] punk anymore is that there aren't very many of them and that none of them seems to be playing a keyboard even though most of them can. What they are instead is a much rarer thing [...] thoughtful, quirky, mercurial young adults skilled at transforming doubt into music." And I think this sentiment reigns true on the record, which is heavily guitar and synth based, but not to the degree that something from The Postal Service would be. It blends electronics with traditional rock instrumentation in a more subtle way. Some of my favorite tracks on the record are “What Do You Want Me to Say,” “Gyroscope,” and “The City,” which features my favorite vocal performance on the record. I feel that Emergency & I has a bit of everything, a few slower tracks, some more traditional alternative rock tunes, and some really solid pop songs. If you’re a fan of indie rock already and haven’t heard it yet, I would check it out, I think it’s easy to find something to enjoy on its twelve track run.


-Ryan


What Do You Want Me to Say? - “What Do You Want Me to Say?” Live on KEXP.

The City (Early Live Version) - “The City” live on a college campus in 1999.

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