I've been waiting for a new Dismemberment Plan record for twelve years. What else has happened in that time? I grew a tail, I saw a snowball hit a flying pig in Hades, and I wore culottes once. “Waiting”, a tongue-in-cheek standard issue track for the D.C. thought-punks, is everything I've been waiting for and more. Starting with a coy unveiling melody seen most often in cartoons and campy TV shows, the track does what D-Plan does best: plays the straight man who is a little too self-aware. An unfamiliar disco-ey element to the track feels like the group is trying something new for their first record since 2001—but not by much. Travis Morrison still utilizes his nasally, thoughtful lyrics to play with our hearts and minds. The greatest element of the new song, though, is its sugarpop lyrics and rhymes. “Waiting, anticipating, frustrated” are all terms Morrison uses in the chorus, and it's like we're seeing the band cover a Britney Spears song. Still coy and a few steps ahead of us, as usual.
The Dismemberment Plan's latest record, Uncanney Valley, releases through Partisan Records on October 15.
