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by Zach Huff
 What are you supposed to do when your band disbands? In Travis Morrison's case, he did a bit of exploration and settling down before forming Travis Morrison Hellfighters after The Dismemberment Plan called it quits. Their latest album, All Y'All , serves as proof that the world is a better place because of Morrison's music.
The first two tracks on the album, "I'm Not Supposed To Like You (But)" and "As We Proceed," start with hooks eerily reminiscent of The Dismemberment Plan's Change. Thankfully, the feeling is gone rather quickly; Morrison isn't hitting fans with Change Version 2.0.
The sound of the album is hard to explain. It's much looser than The Dismemberment Plan's last few albums, showcasing an eclectic range of styles. "Catch Up" and "I Do" feel like Morrison dabbled with hip-hop, featuring beats and rhythms that scream "sample for a rap track." He even samples rap vocals on "Catch Up," creating an indie-hop vibe that is strange at first, but intoxicating after awhile.
Electric lounge rhythms seem to float around throughout the album, popping up randomly and filling up any space that guitars and drums fail to. In fact, just about every aspect of the album floats around. There are many random noises and overlapping rhythms and ideas thrown around. Multiple listens reveal more and more nuances embedded deep in the tracks.
The lyrical content isn't much of a stretch from Morrison's previous work. If nothing else, he ventures out into a wider variety of topics. However, he's most comfortable talking about city life and the Washington D.C. scene that he's always seemed to focus on. As he announces on "As We Proceed," "it's nothing that a Catholic boy should fuck with."
"East Side of the River" and "Saturday Night" are the standout tracks of the album. "East Side of the River" is a sparse, empty track that never truly feels empty as Morrison weaves a tale of self-discovery. Sorrow oozes from his voice like a perpetually bleeding wound, but the track never truly feels sad and hopeless; it creates a bizarre sense of being in limbo.
"Saturday Night" is the most controlled track of the album. It starts with subdued vocal distortion, but is slowly builds up with a "yeah yeah yeah yeah yeahyeahyeah yeah" chant as the drums and guitars reminiscent of the chugga-chugga of Radiohead's "Creep" fill in and fill up the track. It keeps its fullness until Morrison decides to bring it back down with another "yeah yeah yeah yeah yeahyeahyeah yeah" chant.
Overall, aside from "Saturday Night," All Y'All lacks the focus and careful calculation that made The Dismemberment Plan's albums great. But it's not Change. It's not Emergency & I . It's All Y'All . It's similar and completely different, and it's absolutely worth a listen.
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