The Dismemberment Plan… Re-membered

The best of this week’s singles: Dismemberment Plan, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and more!

Published on July 23rd, 2013 | Jonny Abrams

We done gone listed this week’s best singles in ascending order of aceness, culminating in a comeback from The Dismemberment Plan that’s more triumphant than we could reasonably have hoped for…

CYMBALS – “The End”

Okay, we’ve had a few bands now stylising their name in capitals. Can we all just agree that it’s dead clever and have done with it already?

We shan’t, however, let such a matter impact upon our enjoyment of a nice, shuffling round of drippily lysergic electro-disco-whatever.

Getting a French bloke to chatter over the top of it was a nice touch, while the subtle twists and turns undertaken along the course of its seven and a half minutes just about manage to maintain interest levels.

There’s some good stuff going on here, albeit nothing terribly revelatory.

Rocksucker says: Three and a Half Quails out of Five!

Dennis Ferrer feat. Janelle Kroll – “Mind Ur Step”

Should be horrible; somehow isn’t. We’re confused.

It’s the subtly quirky touches and refreshingly understated vocal that make this one what it is: a deceptively intricate slice – yes, slice – of highly evolved Euro-pop.

It’s dumb enough to work in a vacuous club setting, smart enough to repay close attention, and moreover good enough even for us to forgive the text speak in its title.

Fair play, Ferrer. Ferrer play.

Rocksucker says: Three and a Half Quails out of Five!

Yeah Yeah Yeahs – “Despair”

The penultimate track from their so-so recent Mosquito album, “Despair” is a striking choice of single on account of its being a cappella for the opening two minutes.

It’s a pretty masterful slow-build from thereon in, skirting around the territory marked ‘anthemic’ without losing itself in cloying ‘everyman’ gibberish.

This mindfulness makes it pretty joyous, so it’s a full compliment of Yeahs and a near-full compliment of quails for this one.

Rocksucker says: Four Quails out of Five!

Le Grind – “I Was There (Where Were You?)”

This actually came out last week but managed to slip our attention. So, here it is.

“I Was There (Where Were You?)” is a fabulously fun take-off of social elitism – er, social as in ‘nightlife’ rather than ‘class’ – loaded with presumably fictional name-drops of celebrities in various compromising situations…

…and all set to gritty, pounding electro that gives way quite unexpectedly to rousing disco.

There’s Andy Warhol’s hairpiece falling into a Martini, a horse stepping on someone’s foot, Rock Hudson cavorting with a hotpants-clad busboy: frankly, it makes a nice change from the swathes of heartbroken singer/songwriters and ‘in your face’ indie bands that tend to clog up the weekly singles pipe.

Le daily Grind mightn’t be so mundane after all.

Rocksucker says: Four Quails out of Five!

Jack Cheshire – “Gyroscope”

Ooh, brooding mystery psych folk loveliness! It’s been a grand year for this rough sort of thing – see also Balthazar, Matthew E. White and Oliver Wilde – and this is as beguiling as any of them.

In fact, as it crashes into its tumultuous final section, it occurs to us that it’s bloody brilliant and we put it on again. Damn, it’s like a one-man Grizzly Bear or something.

Hold on, what’s this? At the time of writing, “Gyroscope” has only 42 views on YouTube. 42! Mind you, it was only published two days ago.

Who is this guy? We intend to find out. Bravo, Jack! You’d be single of the week if it weren’t for the next lot.

Er, obviously.

Rocksucker says: Four and a Half Quails out of Five!

The Dismemberment Plan – “Waiting”

“Waiting” we most certainly have been. It has after all been twelve years since we’ve had a Dismemberment Plan album and their return could not possibly be more welcome, nor more triumphant.

Before we go on, those who are unfamiliar with the D-Plan should immediately acquaint themselves; we recommend, as indeed we would, checking out this recent article by our good selves.

This new ‘un is almost unbearably elating, at once an amalgamation of everything they did before and a joyous display of the increased capacity for melody they’ve seemingly garnered in the intervening years.

We were excited to hear of their return, if a little sceptical; heck, that comes with this kind of territory. Imagine our delight, then, that this first taster of the forthcoming Uncanney Valley LP (out October 14th) is one of the best things we’ve heard from them – nay, anyone – to date.

It begins with a grand orchestral sample, slips seamlessly into the kind of jittery yet good-natured groove they perfected years ago, initiates an exquisite take-off that resolves itself in the most adorable of key changes…

…and Travis Morrison is still an imperious front man and lyricist. His delivery ebbs and flows along with the music, climaxing in a quite hilarious bellowing of the word ‘time’ met with a Tyler, The Creator-esque pitch-lowered utterance of “you’re killing me”.

The atmospheric glow surrounding this song’s sheerest moments of lift-off…well, we’ve used plenty of superlatives already, so we’ll just go the whole hog and call it perfect.

Here at Rocksucker we rarely dole out the full five quails. The more we listen to “Waiting”, the more we consider calling upon a sixth. We shan’t set that precedent, but we shall implore you with every fibre of our being to give this a listen and let it soundtrack the remainder of your summer.

It’s perfect. That’s all we really needed to say.

Rocksucker says: Five Quails out of Five!

Tune in tomorrow for the worst of this week’s singles!

Artists: cymbals, dennis ferrer, jack cheshire, janelle kroll, le grind, the dismemberment plan, yeah yeah yeahs

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About the Author

Jonny Abrams Editor of Rocksucker and the website's founder, Jonny is passionate about the music he listens to, both good and bad, as well as interviewing his favourite musicians.