''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 States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band

The Dismemberment Plan The Dismemberment Plan was a Washington, D.C. based indie rock band formed 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 popular comedy '' Ground ...

. It was released on March 17, 1997 on DeSoto Records. 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 A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

Interscope Interscope Records is an American record label 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 with Atlantic Records of Warner Musi ...

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 subgenre of new wave music that first became prominent in the late 1970s and features the synthesizer as the dominant musical instrument. It was prefigured in the 1960s a ...

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''. 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 record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record.

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

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

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 a ...

and singer-songwriter

Gladys Knight Gladys Maria Knight (born May 28, 1944), known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer, actress and businesswoman. A seven-time Grammy Award-winner, Knight recorded hits through the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s with her family group Gladys Kn ...

's song " Midnight Train to Georgia". Dismemberment Plan lead singer

Travis Morrison Travis Morrison (born December 16, 1972) is an American musician and web developer from the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., United States. He is best known as leader of indie-rock band The Dismemberment Plan and as a solo artist. ...

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 music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

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, short for metropolitan, may refer to: Geography * Metro (city), 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 urba ...

'', 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 well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

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. It was initially inspired by post-punk and noise rock. Like post-punk, the term has been ...

", stating that it sounds "sort of the way Primus might if Primus enjoyed a normal sex life." And from the way the guitars and such come crashing down to break up a good party and set off a better one."

Joe Garden Joe Garden (born March 10, 1970) is an American comedy writer. He was a features editor at The Onion, an American satirical news organisation, where he created the characters Jim Anchower and Jackie Harvey. He has also had at least one cameo in t ...

of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American 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 cre ...

'' 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, a ...

'' 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 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 with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...

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 *Jason Caddell –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

*Joe Easley –

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

–

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, 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 various ...

– recording

References

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