These are the The Dillinger Escape Plan:
….Today!
But the band whose name pays homage to the Public Enemy John Herbert Dillinger, a notorious outlaw, bank robber, in the prohibition era of 1930s Chicago (see film M. Mann), even before "recruiting" the current singer Greg Puciato, that madman in the video, had in its Line-up Mr. PATTON Mike.
Fascinated by the potential of the band, with the release of their first full-length "Calculating Infinity," acclaimed by both the specialized press and the public, he asked to be part of it for the subsequent concerts first in featuring with Mr. Bungle, then as a lead singer.
It all preludes to a future EP project that saw the light in August 2002: "Irony is a Dead Scene" for Epitaph Records.
The album was also the debut for bassist Liam Wilson replacing former bassist Adam Doll, who was involved in a car accident that paralyzed him from the waist down, although he continued to appear in recordings playing keyboards and thus making his last effort before the final farewell to The Dillinger Escape Plan.
The project in question amalgamates the artistic wills of both Patton and TDEP in an experimental union characterized by sudden moments of pure alienation, prelude to lucid beauty and innovative capacity, to others of conscious Dadaist courage; without using big words…Genius!
A combination of sounds skillfully mixed, which manage to give the album an extremely valuable artistic understanding, if not refined, an example of which is "When Good Dogs Do Bad Things", thrilling!!! Characterized by a Hardcore preface, then renewing in a catharsis of sounds that lead the piece towards a considerable compositional beauty.
In perfect experimental math-core, "Hollywood Squares", distinguished both by free jazz insertions, soon key points in future TDEP compositions, and by omnipresent Pattonian artistic ambitions, whose strong guidance is felt… Throughout the project.
The simplification of what just highlighted is evident in "Pig Latin" presented by an incongruous and violent Gibberish singing and a vaguely LesClaypoolian sound, while everything concerns the dictates of what, already in 2001 with Tomahawk, was to be the bearer of those sonic archetypes.
In conclusion, I praise the cover of "Come to Daddy" which would later become part of the Pattonian repertoire, characterized by the moment when a seductive bass line as immediate as expertly accompanies the frenetic scream of death that in the original Cunningham video corresponds to the demon screaming in the face of the defenseless yet unbending old bastard.
I believe this is one of the most musically logical albums of TDEP then after Patton's departure with Paciuto's entrance, these 5 guys will continue with their musical forays to the point of being judged by the magazine New Musical Express as "The Most Dangerous Band in the World", while "The Best Live Band on the Planet" by Kerrang! Magazine.
Here, one could discuss at length about the publicity in defining themselves as "bad and very angry" that the Media provides you or those same abilities to manage the group's potential, which are there, but I remain skeptical about these new groups, no matter how good they are, that seem to have found Aladdin's lamp, influenced by the innovative jazz insertions at all costs.
Certainly later I will have more opportunities to delve into the TDEP discussion, in the meantime I warmly recommend listening to this album. Regards
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Hollywood Squares (04:08)
Game over, you win.
Game over, I win.
The Sleigh bells are a-ringing, the children they are singing
The memories are fleeting, a little game of {Paper, Scissors, Rock}
The wedding Bells are ringing, the shotgun is a-singing
Now (?) your fingers steady, a little game of {Paper, Scissors, Rock}
A lion tamer yelling, your first piano lesson
A 4--leaf contraceptive, we play a game of {Paper, Scissors, Rock}
A sweaty palm reading, a lucky shot of whiskey
Now come and rub my belly, a little game of {Paper, Scissors, Rock}
O's and X's
Hollywood Squares
X's and O's
Bloody Tic-Tac-Toe
Not in your song
I'm not your singer
Not in your poem
I'm not your stanza
I'm not a color in your rainbow
But now which team
Are you rooting for?
We're Hollywood Squares
We're going nowhere
I'm an' 'X'
You're an 'O'
And this is the end...
The End.
02 Pig Latin (03:31)
Do you remember where you were on that day?
A day of life sentences and x-rays
My name was on that birthday cake
[Chinga]
Your mother, your father, your brother and the thing under the covers
Your lover, the others, the leeches, and the serpents and the suckers
your mother, your father, the babies, and the nurses and the doctors
Your lover, the others, the waiting room, the gurney and the druggers
Your mother, your father, your brother and the thing under the covers
Your lover, the others, the leeches and serpents and the suckers
Your mother, your father, the comas and the way the spirits hover
Your lover, the others, I thought I wasnt smart enough to suffer
Kiss me goodnight[x4]
Dreaming white satin
Kiss me goodnight [x3]
Freedom, freedom, tying your legs down
Freedom, freedom, fucking your brains out
Freedom, freedom, blowing the candle out
Freedom, freedom, waving to the crowd
And I hate long goodbyes anyway. . .
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By Stràfiko Piezzecore
Ultimately, one could define “Irony Is a Dead Scene” as a refined triumph of nonsense, to be listened to at once, leaving you with the pleasant sensation of not having understood a damn thing.
Mike also does collaborations by correspondence. He’s truly the most badass of them all.