After a ten-year, on-and-off, hiatus, The Dismemberment Plan have released their first studio album in ten years. This hiatus was speckled with a one-off reunion show and then a subsequent tour through Japan and the United States four years later in 2011.
After releasing a live album in 2011 from their trans-Pacific tour, The Dismemberment Plan began working on the recently released Uncanny Valley. The album has a quality to it that allows for the band to reconnect with the style that popularized them in the mid to late 1990s, while allowing them to show persistent relevance and produce intriguing music.
Bringing in post-punk guitar composition and thumping percussive beats, lead singer and guitarist Travis Morrison sings lyrics that are reminiscent of his late ‘90s style and laden with the distinct yearnings of his early 2000s writing.
“Invisible,” the album’s third track, has images of the anxiety-ridden wait for a job and being lost in the crowd of a big city. The lyrics and instrumentation fit together perfectly. “Lookin’” brings The Dismemberment Plan back to their roots and highlights slower moving guitar and bass lines.
Later in the album, “Go And Get It” and “Mexico City Christmas” likewise have perfectly coordinated lyrics to match the instrumentation and tempo. “Go And Get It” has one of the most seamless transition between tempos in a song, allowing for a shift of mood and tone when playing.
Sometimes, however, the album gets bogged down with tracks that have solid instrumentation but rather dull lyrics. Both “Let’s Just Go to the Dogs Tonight” and “White Collar White Teeth” have monotonous and slow-moving lyrics, and “Let’s Just Go…” has annoying bits of elementary rhyming sprinkled throughout the song.
The lyrical imagination and progressive guitar and percussion are highlights on this comeback album, bringing The Dismemberment Plan back into the spotlight. With this solid album, they’ve shown how to slowly, yet surely, ease your way back into the scene.
Rating: B
