They have the passion, the looks, and they write good punk songs. That sums up what the Plastiscines bring to the table with their debut album LP1. Four girls from France play sugar-coated punk rushing you with their own reckless, uninhibited take on their 70s and 80s influences, in both French and English. Imagine Euro-Blondie updated to internet dating and text messages. And hot French girls. Done.
There’s an explosive rawness to their songs that overpowers their often simple instrumentation; it’s a minor explosion of youthful exuberance. And with 13 tracks in 28 minutes, the Plastiscines don’t seem to find it very hard to pack their sound with a regular intrusion of hooks, hopped-up melodies and a few anthems here and there. Listening to songs like “Mr Driver” and “Lost in Translation”, you’ll find the guitar riffs are classic and drum beats basic, but the exhilarated vocalizations on LP1 might be the bedrock of their own solid niche – the French take on the old form. And while they’re of course by no means the first group of Frenchies to take up the punk mantle, the depth of their involvement in these songs allows for a strength one might not expect from four young girls who were (are?) friends in high school.
Good music doesn’t necessarily require richly textured sounds; a minimalist approach can still deliver the same force, which the Plastiscines seem to have discovered. Perhaps most prominently, they give off the impression that their music really is about the passion and fun of writing and playing together; it gives an almost innocent light to their not entirely innocent persona. The Plastiscines definitely have the potential to progress with their music, perhaps to toy with the forms they borrow from the past. LP1 delivers without permission or apology and that is a feat in itself.
