''The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified'' is the second studio album by American

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United Kingdom, United States and New Zealand in the early to mid-1980s. Although the term was originally used to describe rock music released through independent reco ...

band

The Dismemberment Plan The Dismemberment Plan is an American indie rock band formed in Washington, D.C. on January 1, 1993. Also known as D-Plan or the Plan, the name was derived from an industry phrase used by insurance salesman Ned Ryerson in the 1993 comedy film ...

. It was released on March 17, 1997, on

DeSoto Records DeSoto Records is an American record label based in Washington, D.C. History DeSoto was founded in 1989 and is run by husband and wife team Bill Barbot and Kim Coletta (both formerly of the band Jawbox). It was first founded by members of the ba ...

. Musically, the album is "less violent and less extravagant" than its predecessor, '' !''. The album received positive reviews from critics, and got the band to sign with major

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

Composition

Musically, the album can be described as a bridge between

hardcore Hardcore, hard core or hard-core may refer to: Arts and media Film * ''Hardcore'' (1977 film), a British comedy film * ''Hardcore'' (1979 film), an American crime drama film starring George C Scott * ''Hardcore'' (2001 film), a British documen ...

and

noise rock Noise rock (sometimes called noise punk) is a noise music, noise-oriented style of experimental rock that spun off from punk rock in the 1980s. Drawing on movements such as minimal music, minimalism, industrial music, and New York hardcore, a ...

. The track "That's When the Party Started" has a

synthpop Synth-pop (short for synthesizer pop; also called techno-pop; ) is a music genre that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s and early 1970s ...

feel, while the fourth track on the album, "Academy Award", is featured as a remix by Cex on the band's final album ''

A People's History of the Dismemberment Plan ''A People's History of the Dismemberment Plan'' is a 2003 album by Washington D.C. indie band The Dismemberment Plan, issued on DeSoto Records. The album is a compilation of songs from three of the band's previous releases, '' The Dismembermen ...

''. It is the only song from ''The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified'' to be remixed for it. "The Ice of Boston" was later released on an

extended play An extended play (EP) is a Sound recording and reproduction, musical recording that contains more tracks than a Single (music), single but fewer than an album. Contemporary EPs generally contain up to eight tracks and have a playing time of 1 ...

of the same name on October 16, 1998, during their brief stint with Interscope Records. The song is

spoken-word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetics of recitation ...

and contains references to songwriter

Jonathan Richman Jonathan Michael Richman (born May 16, 1951) is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970, he founded the Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key acoustic an ...

and singer-songwriter

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Knight & the Pips, which included her brother Merald "Bubba" Knight and cousins Will ...

's song "

Midnight Train to Georgia "Midnight Train to Georgia" is a song most famously performed by Gladys Knight & the Pips, their second release after departing Motown Records for Buddah Records. Written by Jim Weatherly and included on the Pips' 1973 LP ''Imagination'', "Midni ...

". Dismemberment Plan lead singer Travis Morrison described the album as "very confrontational", saying "it's the least melodic record we have, it's the most dedicated to hip-hop record we have".

Reception

''The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified'' received positive reviews from music critics. Brian Raftery of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

commented that the album was not as good as The Dismemberment Plan's debut album, '' !'', but nevertheless named "That's When the Party Started", "The Ice of Boston", and "Do the Standing Still" as standout tracks of the album. In ''

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

'', Nicky Baxter praised the album for being "wonderfully varied", finding that "no two tracks sound alike" and ultimately describing it as "a mess that's hard to resist." American music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

called the album "surprisingly thoughtful for

post-hardcore Post-hardcore is a punk rock music genre that maintains the aggression and intensity of hardcore punk but emphasizes a greater degree of creative expression. Like the term " post-punk", the term "post-hardcore" has been applied to a broad conste ...

", stating that it sounds "sort of the way Primus might sound if Primus enjoyed a normal sex life." Christgau also praised "the way the guitars and such come crashing down to break up a good party and set off a better one." Joe Garden of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was created in ...

'' published a positive review, saying "Odds are good that you'll find something you like right off the bat, and the rest will grow on you before you realize it." ''

Tiny Mix Tapes ''Tiny Mix Tapes'' (also ''TMT'' or ''tinymixtapes'') is an online music and film webzine that focuses primarily on new music and related news. In addition to its reviews, it is noted for its subversive, political, and sometimes surreal news, ...

'' wrote that with ''The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified'', the band "completely annihilates the term sophomore slump". Despite ''The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified'' not being "radio friendly", it led to major

Interscope Records Interscope Records is an American record label based in Santa Monica, California, owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture ...

signing the band due to its strength.

Track listing

Personnel

The following people were involved in the making of ''The Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified'': ;The Dismemberment Plan *Eric Axelson –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

*Jason Caddell –

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

*Joe Easley –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Travis Morrison –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

, guitar ;Production *Chad Clark and

Don Zientara Don Zientara ( ) is an American record producer and musician. He owns and runs Inner Ear Studios in Arlington, Virginia, located just outside Washington D.C., and is most widely known for his production work with Fugazi, Minor Threat and variou ...

– recording

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dismemberment Plan Is Terrified, The 1997 albums The Dismemberment Plan albums DeSoto Records albums