Take it apart, tear it down: The Dismemberment Plan

Dismemberment Plan With The French Kicks and Christiana

Tomorrow night, 6:30 p.m.

The… Dismemberment Plan With The French Kicks and Christiana

Tomorrow night, 6:30 p.m.

The Upstage at Club Laga, $10

All ages 3609 Forbes Ave.

(412) 682-2050

Dismemberment Plan frontman Travis Morrison is an “Old Testament-type of guy.” He likes his “coffee black” and his “parole denied.” Or so he tells us on “Sentimental Man,” the opening track off the Plan’s fantastical fourth album, Change.

Hailing from the land of punk and poseurs – in other words, our beloved nation’s capital – the Dismemberment Plan cranks up something between the Beastie Boys and the Talking Heads, with a vibe that will get your booty on the dance floor faster than you can say “funk.”

Interscope Records signed the group in 1998 for the release of the Ice of Boston EP, loving their lyrics about drunken New Year’s Eve conversations with Mom, and their young rambunctious attitudes. But the relationship was not to be. Interscope dropped the band after hearing the wacked-out concept-funk-pop of Emergency ‘ I, the album that would have been major label debut, but was eventually released on DeSoto.

But Emergency ‘ I, the album that was feared to be a complete failure, was the very album that boosted the Dismemberment Plan up the ladder of reputable independent bands in America, earning them a huge fan base as well as the hearts of music critics across the globe, all the while crooning about “memory machines” and “human race membership cards.”

Morrison’s clever, maniacal lyricism is the backbone of the Plan’s sound, always offering a weird, often impossible, way to look at things. The Plan’s infamous live show is, quite simply, a party. They often make room for the audience to shake a leg next to them onstage.

Do yourself a favor, and make yourself present for the Dismemberment Plan’s set Saturday at the Upstage, with NYC up-and-comers The French Kicks opening the show with their new-wave rock stylings.