Thursday, February 12, 2015

Plushgun - s/t ep

Name: Plushgun
Album: s/t ep
Year: 2008
Style: Electro-Pop, Chip Music
Similar Bands: Steve Burns, Bicycle, Marxy, Lincoln, OMD, Grandaddy
One Word Review: Twee-Rave
Based Out Of: Brooklyn, NY
Label: Tommy Boy
 Plushgun - Front and Back
Plushgun - Centerfold & CD
Plushgun (2008)

  1. Just Impolite 3:48
  2. 14 Candles 4:14
  3. How We Roll 4:02
  4. Without a Light 3:37

Album Review (1-10): 9.0

Members & Other Bands:
Daniel Ingala - writer
Beth Newell - Art

Unknown-ness: I've never heard of this band when I got the album. But based on the artwork: Nintendo controller and a bird, I imagine this is some cutesy hipster shit. But when I saw the artwork, I still had to pick it up from the pawn shop I found it in and see what it was like.

Album Review: I remember seeing that this band was playing a bar nearby and even through I had listened to the EP a few times and liked what I heard, I was unable to make it out. They are still active, planning to release their third album sometime this year (2015). Much of their early popularity is attributed to being involved in a popular webseries called We Need Girlfriends, and that was supported by other songs being featured in other shows and commercials.

“Just Impolite” was featured in a Comcast commercial as well as MTV's The City. The song begins with a pulsing synth crystal beat and light heart-thumping drum. The lyrics, set back and distorted with a little polite fuzziness, follow the catchy rollicking beat. The harmless, precious and delicate vocals glide along, and feel organically intuitive.
“14 Candles” fades up with a twinkling Walkmen like synth, and the synth drum beat feels like it is right out of Megaman. As the song reaches the chorus, the drum beat picks up adding the electronic snare. The vocals speed up, but still remain cool and calm. A second female voice is added echoing the lead, giving depth to the song and a male-female paring that supports the lyrical feeling.
“How We Roll” was featured on MTV's Real World Brooklyn series. It starts with a Japanese-anime like zoomy synth, creating an urgent electro dance pop experience. The vocals are rushed, reminding me a little of Tullycraft, but still retain a clear purposeful collectiveness. The urgency in the backing synth drives the song, with other 8-bit effects (promoting the use of the Nintendo controller on the front?) are employed in the song. Immensely danceable, the music could create a genre of entertainment and listeners called Twee-Rave
“Without a Light” fades up as well, with grand synth effects that interweave, and feel right at home having listened to the first three tracks. Then a steady driving beat begins, and OMD like synth hooks take form. The coldness in the vocals mixed with the electro music makes me think of what Grandaddy cold do if they went in a dance direction. The song exhausts itself in segments, reverting to a quiet, ambient section, building up energy to start over again. This song feels more anthemic than the rest of the album by a very small margin.

Stand Out Track: Just Impolite
How We Roll

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