The Dismemberment Plan - Change (DeSoto, 2001)
Almost every review I've seen of the Dismemberment Plan's most recent record (yeah, yeah, I know it came out in the Fall, the promo people are slow, okay?) has invoked the album's title to discuss the earthshattering shift that it represents away from the band's old sound. I find this quite amusing, partly because I'm just amused at how much artists can shape critical response to a record just by their choice of title, but mostly because I doubt most reviewers would have harped on that aspect of the release if it hadn't been for the title. First of all, the elements that make the Plan one of the most distinctive bands around are still firmly intact - clever, chiming guitar work; complex and methodical, but funky drumming; and head Planner Travis Morrison's unmistakeable dry, deliberate delivery. Certainly, there are distinguishable differences between this and their last effort, 1999's universally (and rightly) lauded Emergency & I. For instance (as has been most often commented on), this one is slightly mellower - that is, nothing here verges on unlistenable the way Emergency's weakest link "I Love a Magician" did. Also, there's nothing as glorious and cathartic as "The City," or inane-yet-beautiful as "You Are Invited." And, arguably, this release definitely finds the Plan continuing to distance themselves from their brash and racous early work (epitomized by "!", whose title is unfortunately not pronounced as a Bantu click.) But so what - what's so mindblowing about a group evolving their sound. It used to be, in the days of Talking Heads, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, and even Led Zeppelin (all of whose influence, incidentally, is apparent on this album), that nearly every album an artist released would involve some distinct stylistic change.

So. If Change is not noteworthy in that respect, then what has it got to commend it. Well, there are some dandy songs: the chiming, propulsive opener "Sentimental Plan," the majestic and driving "Time Bomb," the fast and funky "The Other Side." Morrison's lyrics continue to be delightfully literate and often abstruse ("I'm an old testament type of guy/I like my coffee black/and my parole denied.") The band continue to demonstrate deft musicianship, smartly upholding the proud tradition of intelligent guitar bands in a world that has all but forsaken them. Without question, Change is one solid record. I was excited when I first heard it, at the thought that it would prove everybody wrong, and show that a band like this can continue to improve even as they edge gradually towards a maturity beyond their "mature masterpiece." But sadly, this record, as good as it is, doesn't live up to the standard of excellence set by Emergency. And I can't help but thinking that that failure comes not simply from the quality of the songs (which, though consistently good, don't reach the same peaks of greatness), but from the disolution of some of the rough edges of the last record - rough edges which, come to think of it, are perfectly described in its title. (6/10)