Audio By Carbonatix
Artist: The Dillinger Escape Plan
Title: Option Paralysis
Release date: March 23
Label: Party Smasher
If you’re a regular reader of “Nothing Not New,” you’ve undoubtedly seen me gripe about the current crop of indie rockers’ general unwillingness to rock. I must’ve been sleeping off a hangover or watching an I Love the ’80s marathon the day the indie world decided it was no longer fun/cool/wise to make some noise.
Even the antecedent indie-pop heavy hitters of my youth — bands like Pavement, Yo La Tengo, Feelies — were still rock bands at heart. Somewhere along the way the Grizzly Bear aesthetic became the preferred mode of musical expression and indie rock got all Tiny Tim on me.
So, yeah, I’ve been waiting for a high-energy indie-rock record to come across my desk, and it just did, in the form of The Dillinger Escape Plan’s Option Paralysis. And it’s insane — a near-breathless assault on the senses. Funny, because I thought math rock had died sometime in the early 2000s, but I stand corrected (again). Turns out Dillinger Escape Plan is carrying the math-rock torch — and keeping it aflame with what must gallons and gallons of lighter fluid.
I can’t imagine what a Dillinger Escape Plan live show must be like. Probably exhausting. There’s no time signature these guys are afraid to tackle. They take countless twists and turns — from blast-beat fast to grunge-y slow to sweeping arena rock, from throat-shredding screamo to Alice in Chains-esque crooning, from chunky metal chords to intricate fretting — and do it several times in each song. It’s way beyond aggressive. It’s violent music. And just to confuse matters further, skronky synths give way to melodic piano runs and string arrangements.
And it’s all held together by a crazy dynamo of a drummer. It’s an incredible drumming performance from start to finish — reason enough to go see this band in concert. In fact, the whole record is a pretty amazing achievement in performance. It’s like jazz in the sense that, to me, a jazz performance isn’t so much about the song as it is about the virtuosity of the players. It’s ambitious and epic record, and these pull it off with seemingly the greatest of ease.
For the most part, you can’t discern the lyrics amid all the shouting, but I looked up the lyrics of a few songs on the Internet. This verse from the wig-out “Crystal Morning” pretty much sums up every single aspect of Option Paralysis: “All these nights of broken glass / This vision soon will pass / Soon will pass / All the way from Hell to here / This is an act of vengeance / They say the end is near / Well, let it start / Let it start now.”
Best song: “Gold Teeth on a Bum,” which features the closest thing on this record to a sing-along chorus. (Sample couplet: “It’s just like every other day / I know how to fix you should you come my way”)Rotation: MediumDeja vu: A strobe-lit pitbull fight I’d rather listen to: Liars’ SisterworldGrade: B+
“Nothing Not New” is a yearlong project in which New Times editorial operations manager Jay Bennett, a 40-year-old music fan and musician, will listen only to music released in 2010. Each Monday through Friday, he will listen to one new record (no best ofs, reissues, or concert recordings) and write about it. Why? Because in the words of his editor, Martin Cizmar, he suffers from “aesthetic atrophy,” a wasting away of one’s ability to embrace new and different music as one ages. Read more about this all-too-common ailment here.
The “Nothing Not New” Archives
March 30 — Local Natives: Gorilla Manor (B)March 29 — The Bird and the Bee: Interpreting the Masters: Hall & Oates (C)
March 26 — Eddy Current Suppression Ring: Rush to Relax (C+)March 25 — Let’s Wrestle: In the Court of the Wrestling Let’s (B)March 24 — Goldfrapp: Head First (D)March 23 — She & Him: Volume 2 (A-)March 22 — Broken Bells: Broken Bells (C+)
March 19 — Locksley: Be In Love (B)March 18 — jj: jj no. 3 (C-)March 17 — Xiu Xiu: Dear God, I Hate Myself (D+)March 16 — Drive By Truckers: The Big To-Do (B-)March 15 — April Smith and the Great Picture Show: Songs for a Sinking Ship (C)
March 12 — The Morning Benders: Big Echo (C+)March 11 — Black Rebel Motorcycle Club: Beat the Devil’s Tattoos (B)March 10 — Acrassicauda: Only the Dead See the End of War (C-)March 9 — Titus Andronicus: The Monitor (B+)March 8 — Ted Leo and the Pharmacists: The Brutalist Bricks (A)
March 5 — Liars: Sisterworld (A-)March 4 — Gorillaz: Plastic Beach (A-)March 3 — Johnny Cash: American VI: Ain’t No Grave (B+)March 2 — High on Fire: Snakes for the Divine (C)March 1 — Joanna Newsom: Have One on Me (C)
Feb. 26 — Freeway & Jake One: The Stimulus Package (D)Feb. 25 — Past Lives: Tapestry of Webs (B-)Feb. 24 — Shout Out Louds: Work (B)Feb. 23 — Brian Jonestown Massacre: Who Killed Sgt. Pepper? (B+)Feb. 22 — Shearwater: The Golden Archipelago (D+)
Feb. 19 — The Strange Boys: Be Brave (B+)Feb. 18 — Tindersticks: Falling Down a Mountain (A)Feb. 17 — Lightspeed Champion: Life Is Sweet! Nice to Meet You (C-)Feb. 16 — Adam Green: Minor Love (B-)Feb. 15 — Juliana Hatfield: Peace & Love (B+)
Feb. 12 — Massive Attack: Heligoland (C-)Feb. 11 — The Watson Twins: Talking to You, Talking to Me (C-)Feb. 10 — Hot Chip: One Life Stand (B+)Feb. 9 — You Say Party! We Say Die!: XXXX (B+)Feb. 8 — Allison Moorer: Crows (B)
Feb. 5 — Joe Pug: Messenger (C)Feb. 4 — The Soft Pack: The Soft Pack (A)Feb. 3 — Polysics: Absolute Polysics (B-)Feb. 2 — Pierced Arrows: Descending Shadows (A-)Feb. 1 — The Brunettes: Paper Doll (B-)
Jan. 29 — Basia Bulat: Heart of My Own (C)Jan. 28 — Priestess: Prior to the Fire (B)Jan. 27 — The Magnetic Fields: Realism (B)Jan. 26 — Four Tet: There Is Love in You (D)Jan. 25 — Delphic: Acolyte (C+)
Jan. 22 — The Hot Rats: Turn Ons (B+)Jan. 21 — Los Campesinos!: Romance Is Boring (A-)Jan. 20 — Midlake: The Courage of Others (D-)Jan. 19 — Laura Veirs: July Flame (B+)Jan. 18 — Beach House: Teen Dream (C)
Jan. 15 — Charlotte Gainsbourg: IRM (B)Jan. 14 — OK Go: Of the Blue Colour of the Sky (D)Jan. 13 — Eels: End Times (A-)Jan. 12 — Spoon: Transference (B)Jan. 11 — Editors: In This Light and On This Evening (D+)
Jan. 8 — Surfer Blood: Astro Coast (B+)Jan. 7 — Yeasayer: Odd Blood (C-)Jan. 6 — Cold War Kids: Behave Yourself EP (B+)Jan. 5 — Vampire Weekend: Contra (D+)Jan. 4 — Texas Tornados: Está Bueno! (B)
Jan. 1 — Scanners: Submarine (B-)
