The bookend tracks are cool. Plagiarism kicks off with a radio edit of the shoulda-been-huge Miss Machine single "Unretrofied," which is the kind of slinky-yet-savage tune that the songwriters for Stabbing Westward or God Lives Underwater would have carved out their eyes to write. The closing track is a brutal live rendition of "The Perfect Design," which also closes out Miss Machine. (Coincidence? Doubtful.) These tracks are the bread that holds together the filling - covers of "Wish" by Nine Inch Nails, "Angel" by Massive Attack, "Like I Love You" by Justin Timberlake (I'm not joking) and "Jesus Christ Pose."
These covers are well executed, but they're also faithful to the point of superfluousness. Hey, I'm as impressed as anyone that they can recreate the electronic throb of "Angel" or the flamenco-flavored pop of "Like I Love You" flawlessly, and Greg Puciato's Mike-Pattonesque range shoots off into previously unexplored territory. (Dude does a mean Chris Cornell.) But the question remains, why? What's to be gained from these veritable Xeroxes? There's some internal variations (notably in how Chris Pennie plays around with the drum tracks), but the occasional detour or personal flourish by a band member only makes the rest of it look that much more rote.
I don't know. Maybe it's working on a level that I'm not hearing. I can see how Plagiarism works as a mission statement. The Dillinger Escape Plan is possibly saying with this EP, "Hey, we're talented guys. We could have started any band we wanted - we could have been an industrial band or a moody ambient-techno band or a hard-edged grunge band or, hell, even a radio-friendly pop band... but we decided to write and play loud, violent, super-technical metal. That's us. We're The Dillinger Escape Plan." I guess we all need mirrors to remind ourselves of who we are.
Plagiarism is available for download at iTunes. It can also be streamed from Dillinger's MySpace page. It is not available through general retail.
Article comments
1 - Connie Phillips
This article has been placed at the Advance.net websites, a site affiliated with about 12 newspapers.
One such site is here.
2 - hi
i'd say that these guys in the band are laughable.
3 - Steve C.
Does it make me a dick to say that I agree with Greg?
I mean, really, though -- this interview can only come as a surprise if you've never read anything about these guys before. In every interview and article I've read about 'em, they make it clear that they consider themselves superior to the majority of their contemporaries. It'd be obnoxious if they weren't, you know, right.