Pitchfork: Travis Morrison Plays the East Coast

Ok, there's no easy way to get around the subject, so let's just hang all the dirty laundry out to dry, shall we? Late last year, Travis Morrison released his first solo album. An album that some might call disappointing. So disappointing, in fact, that Pitchfork gave Travistan a rating of 0.0. Zero-point-zero. The numerical distinction given to something devoid of value. A little harsh? Certainly, but even with the lowest score possible on his permanent record, he's still averaging just under a 7.0, meaning that he's got some great albums under his belt, as well.

Which brings us to the ass-kissing counterpoint: It wouldn't be an overstatement to say that Travis Morrison is kind of a genius, having fronted the Dismemberment Plan, one of the most spectacular and original bands of the past decade. And he's the ultimate in showmanship, inspiring manic, involuntary ass-shaking while waxing poetic on the pitfalls of urban twentysomething existentialism. So, naturally it's exciting to hear that he's got some shows lined up in 2005. For now, he's only doing East Coast spots, but according to his website, a wider tour is on the way. He's also writing some new songs, two of which he's described as, "R. Kelly crossed with the Thermals," and, "The Hold Steady meets Devo." In other words, it's probably going to sound a lot like Uncle T.

Finally, the bad business is behind us. Now we can, as Morrison puts it in Travistan's criminally overlooked secret song, "move on to better times." Now let's go see some shows, yeah:

03-25 Fredricksburg, VA - The Loft (w/ Pash & Bellafea)
03-26 Norfolk, VA - Relative Theory Records (w/ Morning Theft)
04-01 Harrisonburg, VA - MACRoCk 2005
04-02 Richmond, VA - Nanci Raygun (w/ Mercury Program & Now Sleepyhead)
04-07 Morgantown, WV - Rosewood Theatre
04-29 Baltimore, MD - Talking Head
05-05 Philadelphia, PA - The Khyber

href="http://pitchforkmedia.com/record-reviews/m/morrison_travis/travistan.shtml">Travis Morrison: Travistan
* Travis Morrison: <a

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