Adam Pfleider
06/06/08, 11:49 PM
The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower - Dissertation, Honey
Record Label: Happy Couples Never Last
Release Date: June 17, 2003
The workings of jazz have always seemed to find its way into every musical genre. Whether it's rhythmic styles, chord progressions or even the art of the improvised solo, jazz will make its way into a listeners ear without even hearing the names of Charlie Parker or Bill Evans.
In the post-hardcore scene, jazz are the boots most musicians wear, even if they don't know it. With Dissertation, Honey, The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower's first full-length, the band stomps its boots straight through the record, past the headphones, and to the ears.
Sure, lead singer and saxophonist Brandon Welchez wraps his instrument around the entire record like an outrageous game of "Snake" on a cell phone screen, but the rest of the band must have been listening to a few bebop and post-bop records to come up with some of the bass lines, drum beats, and guitar riffs throughout.
The record begins with "Exhibitionism," a piano intro with poet Kailani Amerson giving the listener the feel of sitting in a dimly-lit jazz bar down the ally somewhere. "Sometimes I Wish I Lost a Leg" cuts the cool jazz short with bouncing guitar lines, and choruses of "Now my hand's in the hive" accompanied by saxophone. "One Stab Deserves Another" is one of the best songs of the bands short lived career. Its beat is danceable, laced in punk and the rhythm section and composition as a whole are just damn-smart progression writing.
The instrumental "Funeral Procession" lends a nice rest before the great "For Marcus," with guest female vocals switching out the raspy aura of Welchez. "Her Health Violation" sounds like later Blood Brothers tracks and "It's in His Kiss" is another instrumental breath before the end of the record.
"Comeback 1968" could be a forgettable straightforward punk song while "Safety is Of" is one vibrant burst before closing with another spoken word from Amerson on "Monotonous."
While the band diverged into a more brutal post-punk sound on their follow-up, Love in the Fascist Brothel (still a great album though), The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower excel on this album in blending bebop and punk to create a non-stop horn-fest of angular bass, drum, guitar, and sax lines.
At the Drive-In's Relationship of Command; Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane's Live at Carnegie Hall; Blood Brothers' Crimes
myspace.com/theplottoblowuptheeiffeltower (http://www.myspace.com/theplottoblowuptheeiffeltower)
Record Label: Happy Couples Never Last
Release Date: June 17, 2003
The workings of jazz have always seemed to find its way into every musical genre. Whether it's rhythmic styles, chord progressions or even the art of the improvised solo, jazz will make its way into a listeners ear without even hearing the names of Charlie Parker or Bill Evans.
In the post-hardcore scene, jazz are the boots most musicians wear, even if they don't know it. With Dissertation, Honey, The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower's first full-length, the band stomps its boots straight through the record, past the headphones, and to the ears.
Sure, lead singer and saxophonist Brandon Welchez wraps his instrument around the entire record like an outrageous game of "Snake" on a cell phone screen, but the rest of the band must have been listening to a few bebop and post-bop records to come up with some of the bass lines, drum beats, and guitar riffs throughout.
The record begins with "Exhibitionism," a piano intro with poet Kailani Amerson giving the listener the feel of sitting in a dimly-lit jazz bar down the ally somewhere. "Sometimes I Wish I Lost a Leg" cuts the cool jazz short with bouncing guitar lines, and choruses of "Now my hand's in the hive" accompanied by saxophone. "One Stab Deserves Another" is one of the best songs of the bands short lived career. Its beat is danceable, laced in punk and the rhythm section and composition as a whole are just damn-smart progression writing.
The instrumental "Funeral Procession" lends a nice rest before the great "For Marcus," with guest female vocals switching out the raspy aura of Welchez. "Her Health Violation" sounds like later Blood Brothers tracks and "It's in His Kiss" is another instrumental breath before the end of the record.
"Comeback 1968" could be a forgettable straightforward punk song while "Safety is Of" is one vibrant burst before closing with another spoken word from Amerson on "Monotonous."
While the band diverged into a more brutal post-punk sound on their follow-up, Love in the Fascist Brothel (still a great album though), The Plot to Blow Up the Eiffel Tower excel on this album in blending bebop and punk to create a non-stop horn-fest of angular bass, drum, guitar, and sax lines.
At the Drive-In's Relationship of Command; Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane's Live at Carnegie Hall; Blood Brothers' Crimes
myspace.com/theplottoblowuptheeiffeltower (http://www.myspace.com/theplottoblowuptheeiffeltower)