Statehood.

A few months ago, fans of Dismemberment Plan were treated to Travis Morrison's All Y'all, which we mentioned in August.

Now, those same fans have another reason to celebrate: former members Joe Easley and Eric Axelson's new band, Statehood, release their debut, Lies and Rhetoric, next week. They sound very D.C., very Dischord - smart lyrics, layers of choppy, edgy guitar, beats driving the songs like a hummer over the rubble of a ruined city. They ironically start the album with a song called "A Story's End," but appropriately tell us to "Bleed in/Bleed out/It's time to pay attention/Here's where the stories end."

And so, pay attention to these:

Giants (mp3), introduced with Leigh Thompson's intense, cutting guitar, leading to singer Clark Sabine's devastating declaration "I push to be pulled/In hopes of hearing/Your softly spoken words I thought would have more meaning." The interplay between staccato guitar bursts and sustained notes during the chorus is heavenly.

Every Single Question (mp3) is set in a spacelike atmosphere created by percussion and distant echoing guitar eighths, tension built through repetition, until the repeating line "lose control" floats above waves of guttural guitar distortion.

There's also evidence that these guys also put on an intense live show:



Lies And Rhetoric will be available Nov 19th.