Emergency & I

The third album from Washington D.C.’s Dismemberment Plan was a game-changer for indie rock fans coming up in the genre’s fallow late Nineties — a link between the tense, complex emo-punk of Fugazi and Jawbox and the talky, preppy tunefulness of the Hold Steady and Vampire Weekend. (This vinyl-only reissue adds an oral history of the band.). Tweaky, tender singer-guitarist Travis Morrison waxed diaristic about temping on K Street, first relationship breakup blues, drunk girls and bad weekends over dance-y prog grooves and cutting guitars. The too-charming centerpiece is “You Are Invited,” half synth-pop monologue, half drunken alt-rock sing-along, custom built to fog up your horned-rim glasses.

Listen to “The City”:

Gallery: Random Notes, Rock’s Hottest Photos