After touring Europe with Pearl Jam, D.C. post-hardcore band theDismemberment Plan took part in the most legendary of rock starrituals — the Japanese tour.

“(Japan) was amazing….much more foreign than the European tour,”said Plan singer Travis Morrison. “There were certain intervals whereI had absolutely no idea what was going on. At every turn, we said’sure,’ and every time we said ‘sure’ to something, we had more andmore fun.”

The Dismemberment Plan has also finished two new tracks for afollow-up EP (which is a split with labelmates Juno) to theirfull-length, Emergency and I. The new EP, which will be released bydeSoto Records in January, features one original and one cover byeach band.

While Juno’s cover contribution is a DJ Shadow song, theDismemberment Plan chose to cover the 1998 Jennifer Paige hit,”Crush”

“I like the song a lot,” Morrison said. “It’s a little antiquatedsounding for what is today’s Top 40 standards, but it has a beautifulmelody and pretty good lyrics for a Top 40 song. We kinda turned itinto this six-minute dirge….quite different from the original.”

Aside from the two new songs on the upcoming EP, the Plan has beenperforming a handful of brand new songs while on the road.

“We’re still hashing out new material,” Morrison said. “We’vegotten to the point where you stop writing songs and you startwriting an album, which is far harder than simply writing songs. Youhave to find some sort of coherence….or not.

“We could be recording in two weeks or we may not record untilMay.”

Whether or not a new album will be completed any time in the nearfuture, fans will have two new songs to hold them over until a newrelease, while the Plan just might be dreaming up ideas of othercover songs.

“I love doing covers,” Morrison said. “For years I’ve fantasizedabout having a cover band.”

Among the band’s dream covers are Mary J. Blige’s “Be Happy,”Peter Gabriel’s “Digging in the Dirt,” and Diana Ross’s “UpsideDown.” But to the Dismemberment Plan, cover songs are more than justtongue-in-cheek attention-getters.

“I think one of the real sad losses of the rock era,” Morrisonsaid, “is the idea that a band is supposed to be a self-contained,writing, performing, producing unit. (Covers) give you an opportunityto study other people’s songs — to pick up a few tricks here andthere.”

Likewise, there are a good many bands that could learn a thing ortwo from the Dismemberment Plan.