• Classic Album: The Dismemberment Plan – Emergency & I

    November 24, 2014 - By 

    “The only thing worse than bad memories, is no memories at all” – Travis Morrison, “Spiders In The Snow” Emergency & I is a legitimately great record. It’s one of those rare, incredibly charitable records that just keeps on giving and giving. Repeat listens reveal so many layers and nuances to each of the songs. Musically, everything seems to work. Eric Axelson’s basslines are genuinely inspiring, so good in their own right that they could carry the songs on their own, and often do. This is offset by Joe Easley’s drumming acting perfectly as Axelson’s foil and sliding effortly between…

  • All Tomorrow’s Parties: End of an Era Part 2

    December 5, 2013 - By 

    All Tomorrow’s Parties is a festival that’s had a place close to my heart across the past four years of my life, since my first foray, lured by a reformation gig by underground heroes Sleep. So perhaps I should have had a sense of sorrow looming over me as I sat on a minibus toiling along a motorway in the south of England, for I was on my way to the final ATP festival, at least in its classic form in an English holiday camp. Truth be told, the mixture of familiarity (not limited to buying three times as much…

  • The Dismemberment Plan – Uncanney Valley

    October 24, 2013 - By 

    It’s strange meeting an old friend after an extended absence. Will they be the same person that you remember?  I first listened to the Dismemberment Plan during a hospital stay and it was during this time that Emergency & I and the band who created that album became very close to my heart. So when the band announced their new album – their first in 12 years –  I was genuinely afraid to hear it. I didn’t know if I could stand listening to this band and knowing that what mattered so much to me was just a passing thing.…

  • Track Record: Crayonsmith

    October 23, 2013 - By 

    For the latest installment of Track Record, the Crayonsmith lads arrived at my house armed with their favourite records, brownies and plenty of stories of why these albums mean so much to them. All three of them agreed that Public Strain by Women is one of the best albums ever. We chatted about the others over tea and here’s what they had to say: Women – Public Strain Ciaran Smith: “This record has everything and is a good example of where our three tastes meet. Amazing lo-fi recording job by Chad Van Gallen and loads of killer hooks. ‘Venice Lockjaw’ has…

  • Stream: The Dismemberment Plan – Invisible

    August 22, 2013 - By 

    Washington D.C. indie rock quartet The Dismemberment Plan are streaming the second track to be taken from their forthcoming fifth album, Uncanny Valley. Twelve years on from the release of their last studio album – 2001’s superb Change – the Travis Morrison-fronted band called it quits in 2003 only to reform in 2011 for a string of dates. Uncanny Valley will be released via Partisan Records on October 14. Check out the recently-released ‘Waiting’ here. Stream the band’s new track via Soundcloud below.