ALBUM REVIEWS

Plastiscines ABOUT LOVE BECAUSE MUSIC 8.2.10 @www.vanguard-online.co.uk What the hell is happening on the other side of The Channel? This is the third punk inspired album to hit the UK from mainline Europe in as many months and although the Plastiscines have more in common with The Runaways than the Ramones in terms of music and visuals, their contribution to ‘EuroPunk’ (you heard it here first?) is just as significant. Let’s dispense with the French sound bites and comments on their appearance as you can see that for yourself and concentrate on their latest release. ‘About Love’ is a gutsy, grungy album that doesn’t’ try to be too flash or technical but delivers 3 minute pops songs heavy with early influences of new wave and punk but with a healthy dose of Parisian style. It’s also refreshing to hear them recording in French as well as English and shows a level of confidence in their abilities but the album kicks off with ‘I COULD ROB YOU’, a musical journey through relationships, friendship and life that continues though the rest of the album. The first single ‘Bitch’ should propel the Plastiscines into the main stream even before it was picked up by the TV Series ‘Gossip Girl’? Must have missed that one! It’s a great track that showcases the band with its catchy riffs, chorus and sweetly vocals that belie a dark message. The album rattles along at a reasonable pace, kicking out radio friendly tracks that are saturated with silky vocals and catchy guitar riff with the best tracks for me being ‘Barcelona’ and the melodic ‘Coney Island’. I often harp on about the good old pays in the eighties and nineties but I coming to the opinion that it’s me that hasn’t moved on and that I should look closer at recent decades to find the same appeal of my youth and the Plastiscines are among a new breed of acts that may just regain my faith in music, at the very least. I may yet get to see them live but I suspect it may be as chaperone to my kids on their first live gig. Simon Mulholland www.myspace.com/plastiscine Email Links & Comments to the editor Check the latest album releases