The Dillinger Escape Plan "Miss Machine" CD
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It's no secret that despite enjoying their music and holding a great deal of respect for their abilities, I've found The Dillinger Escape Plan to be rather overrated for quite some time now, so I haven't kept up with them but so much since "Calculating Infinity". I picked this up because I was definitely curious to hear what they were doing these days after sundry rumors and speculation, and this being their first recorded work with new vocalist Greg Puciato, I did want to see what resulted. "Panasonic Youth" blasts wide open right away with a performance just about on par with the fucked up choppy power chords and caustic overtones of the "Calculating Infinity" days, about two minutes in sliding into a nearly exact replica of a Mr. Bungle riff and a totally Mike Patton-esque vocal performance - both disappointing and misleading (it's a good song, it just creates an unclear picture of the complete album at the start - possibly intentionally). True, there are definitely a lot of influences scattered throughout this record that resemble any number of Mike Patton related efforts over the last decade, but the end result is a far more diverse and memorable record than anything this band has released to date. It all boils down to significantly improved songwriting that in no way sheds their chaotic nature, things just flow immeasurably more efficiently and the added sense of immense variety is great. And there's a lot going on here, much of which comes quite unexpectedly. "Sunshine the Werewolf" drops a few caustic, hipster sounding, twisted indie rock riffs with hyper screams that eventually land on a lush clean break with lots of layered guitars against experimental background textures and robust drumming, then building into massive distorted screaming and a noisier approach complete with keyboards. "Highway Robbery", among other tracks, hints at a "catchy" (in a sense) blend of singing and screaming; yet "Van Damsel" churns out overtly caustic riffs with plenty of the band's patented flurries of warbled notes and some jazzy Cynic-esque riffing that should please their early fans. A huge standout is "Phone Home", which exhibits a heavy electronic presence and a vocal delivery that sounds nearly identical to Trent Reznor, definitely possessing an industrial lean, where the chorus is slower and more basic in heaviness than most of the band's prior work... an excellent track. Some of the catchiest moments rise in "Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants", not without its dissonant edge, and there's also a quiet break of smooth lounge-y jazz with nice lead riffs and enough strangeness to keep it interesting; and then some potentially sarcastic elements seep into "Unretrofied", such as dance-y electronic rhythms (blended with live drums) and keyboards that sway from generic hipster tones to spacey sort of prog drones - regardless, there's no denying that the vocal harmonies and dominant basslines make for a damn curious track. Though Puciato may hit on a few less than original tactics, there's no denying that he's infinitely stronger than the band's former frontman - capable of effectively shouting, screaming, singing, cackling, speaking, and then some. And overall they cram tons of changes and atmospheres in and can therefore make a three-minute song feel more like five minutes (in a good way), and I'm glad they've decided to assert themselves in the songwriting department, focusing on composition rather than senseless complexity. Not that there's anything simple about this disc. Everything down to the recording and mixing is technical and sort of fucked up, as they apply lots of different placement and textural effects to various tones in different pieces of different songs so everything sounds consistent without falling into any preset framework. The percussion sounds absolutely perfect and has a good, clear snap to it that lets the impressive drumming shine nicely (this dude is definitely one of the most impressive drummers out there, hands down). The basslines aren't as dominant as I'd prefer since there are definitely some strong wanderings that work between the holes of guitars and percussion and pop forth enough to lay another texture in. But the guitars and vocals are central without overpowering, keeping things abrasive but very controlled, with lots of intricate panning of the guitar parts and such. I don't really think I have any complaints about the production, I'd just prefer to have heard the bass be a touch louder. I'm honestly not into the layout at all, though. The digipack and booklet are covered in a graph paper looking design coated with collaged imagery of spliced female body parts and weird little machinated mechanisms. It's mildly amusing and consistent, but still boring. The booklet is huge and folds out to a massive seven panels, one side covered in more art, the other side with immensely long lines of lyrics stretching across all seven damn panels, making for a pain in the ass read. I don't mind the lyrics though, they're a little abstract and have a stream of consciousness sort of flow, and that's cool. "Motions that make gods cringe running in circles as fast as we can take what you can 'cause now it's all over run hot and cold to break the skin and we won't take no for an answer for just when the door slams the pill drops..." The bonus DVD includes right around 30 minutes of material, most of which consists of various live performances from the last few years, as well as a brief (five minutes or so) "making of" segment with some random studio/behind the scenes footage. Among the highlights are the performance of "The Running Board" at a strange outdoor venue in Japan, where Puciato leaves the stage and crosses a few barriers to get into the crowd; and the curious "Phone Home" live in Seattle. I'm definitely pleased with this disc. It's still not something that I would listen to over and over and over, but it's a definite progression for the band, and it's certainly one that pushes the boundaries and sets them far apart from the legions of clones that have been following them around for several years now. I think there's enough here to satiate longtime fans of the band, but I also admire and enjoy the fact that there's plenty here that will make a few diehards run the other way. Personally, this is by far my favorite material to date from The Dillinger Escape Plan, so I'd guess that I'll start paying more attention now to see where they take it from here. (8/10)
Running time - 39:54, Tracks: 11
[Notable tracks: Highway Robbery, Phone Home, Setting Fire to Sleeping Giants, Unretrofied]
The Dillinger Escape Plan - http://www.dillingerescapeplan.com

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