Plasticlands' evolution from 84’s Colour Appreciation to
this mind warp in 85 was remarkable.
Totally psychedelic, way beyond other bands with similar chemical
allegiances, this album was a brilliant commentary of acid fuelled dementia,
beautifully moulded by producer Paul B. Cutler.
‘No Shine for the Shoes’ kicks things off with tripped
out lyrics, reminding me a heavy-duty mushroom meltdown. Glenn Rehses' vocals sounding a little like a
sympathetic cheese grater. ‘Gloria
Knight’ follows a simple enough (in theory) sixties tune with intense sound
effects and distortion. The album was
obviously a well-crafted creation, a long way ahead of other sixties influenced
garage bands. This band re-defined
psychedelic. This becomes apparent with
the next track ‘Transparencies, Friends’ which travels into the land of the
paranormal/ghosts in a song with tripping harmonic vocals (with organ) adding
to the intense mystery of the track. ‘Fairyland
Hysteria’ kicks off with a huge feedback wail, followed by a thunderous guitar
onslaught with great harmonies and chorus adding up to an engaging few minutes
about hallucinations of grandeur.
‘Don’t Let It All Pass By’ is arguably the most lysergic
of the tunes on this album. Vocal interplay
over-topping a beautiful organ sound.
‘The Gingerbread House' closes off Side 1, once again focusing on a
tripped-out excursion into the land of demented Grimm Brothers fairy tales. The song first sounds enticing, which leads
the childlike listener into a house, where of course a very nasty witch lives
inside, whose bad karma is described through fuzzed out guitars and paranoid
and edgy vocals.
“Flower Scene" starts off Side 2, with the most
overtly pop influenced slice of psychedelia on the album. This is a great tune with clever changes in
texture and great bass interplaying with sophisticated backing vocals. ‘Process of the Silverness’ works well enough
being a more standard 60’s like song (only weirder). It’s basically another fuzzed out extravaganza,
technically spot on and sounding like no other band. They would have been as heavy as fuck
live. ‘Non-stop Kitchen’ sounds like a
disco track gone mad. Rehse singing
about tripping in his kitchen and getting attacked and overwhelmed by all his
kitchen appliances - especially the spoons.
The song works OK if you get off on funky bass, drums and minimal guitar
with some great fuzz at the end.
‘Grassland of Reeds and Things’ is a very odd piece of psychodrama,
probably with African percussion put into the pot, this song may have been
recorded late at night with the studio filled with hash smoke and incense
(maybe). ‘Gloria Knight (Reprise)’
sounds like filler to me - fuzzed out filler of course. The album closes with ‘Wonder, Wonderful,
Wonderland’, a similar sounding tune to the 'Gingerbread House’ without the old
witch to put you off your game. This is
a lovingly crafted masterwork.
Plasticland really were amongst the best of their generation and it is a
sad world to see them remain relatively obscure and unknown.
