THE DISMEMBERMENT PLAN: REUNITE

Yesterday FYM speculated on the seemingly inevitable reunion of long-dormant At the Drive-in, and today we woke up to the news that another great turn-of-the-century band has reunited for sure: The Dismemberment Plan.

The Washington DC band released four albums, one remix album, and several singles and EPs between 1994 and 2003 but have been defunct since 2003 (aside from a pair of reunion benefit shows in 2007). The band finished their career by releasing two classic albums (1999's Emergency & I and 2001's Change) full of existential conundrums and some of the boldest deconstruction of relationships anybody has ever written.

Here's a sample of a few of the D-Plan sons that have captivated FYM in the decade or so since their respective releases:

"The Ice of Boston", off of the band's second full-length, The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified, recounts one of the loneliest New Years Eves anyone could ever have. The straightforward storytelling lyrics and singer Travis Morrison's deadpan delivery ensures that while the song teeters on the novelty, you'll never get sick of the punchline:



"The City" is perhaps the greatest song ever written about how alone one can feel in a city packed with millions of people practically sleeping on top of one another. Morrison not only has an extreme talent for expressing that specifc kind of metropolitan desolation ("Sometimes I stand on my roof at night/And watch as something seems to happen somewhere else"), but can also make the urban sights and sound vividly real in your mind ("Now I notice the streetlamp's hum/The ghosts of graffiti they couldn't quite erase"). "The City" is how you imagine that one year of your life will feel after moving to New York City like you know you've always wanted to:



"You Are Invited" is another slice of life story that shares the same sense of haunted loneliness (similar to that found in "The City") that only big city living can provide you. Morrison opens up the uncherished narrator of the song with such pinpoint accuracy that you are but forced to feel his anguish for yourself:



"Ellen and Ben", the final track off of their final album, may very well be their finest moment. The lyrics to "Ellen and Ben" (click HERE to read) describe with stunningly familiar detail the kind of relationship that a friend of yours or possibly you yourself may have had while in your twenties, no matter how big or small a town you hail from. By the time the song ends, you feel like you know the titular couple as if they have been your next door neighbors for years.

As of right now, The D-Plan has only a few select concerts on the east coast set for January, but here's to hoping they extend this tour nationwide and beyond.