It might be hard to remember, but there was a time (say, the mid-late '90s) before file-sharing and Girl Talk turned everyone into musical dilettantes and genre polyglots when gestures of cross-pollination between indie rock and hip hop (and not like this) were kind of like a big deal. When Isaac Brock used to sort of rap on early Modest Mouse tracks (or say shit like "who's pagin' me now?" or "sorry that I dissed you"), it was weirdly eye-opening, like: Oh, yeah, we all do live in an environment saturated by all kinds of music—hip hop, r&b, whatever—and even though we've cordoned off this little space called punk or indie rock, it's stupid to not acknowledge the wider world. (And, yes, I recall Aerosmith/Run DMC, but I'm talking about within the world of pre-millenial punk/indie with all its now quaint seeming hang-ups about authenticity and whatnot.)

I say all this to defend the Dismemberment Plan's admittedly (and self-deprecatingly) honky flirtations with hip hop and r&b (I seem to recall them covering/interpolating some popular hits of the day into their live sets as well) as something best viewed through the context of their moment in time. (Also, I happen to think "You Are Invited" is ace and super life-affirming when you're in a certain kind of shitty mood, and that the chorus is fine melodic stuff if not quite indicative of the band's typically odd arrangements and song structures.)

But if that doesn't persuade you, at least give these songs of theirs a shot: "The Dismemberment Plan Gets Rich" (above, genius!), "Gyroscope," "The Ice of Boston," "What do You Want Me to Say."