Plastiscines

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More About

• The Friday Night Boys
• Cobra Starship
• Butch Walker
• The Strokes
• Arts, Entertainment, and Media

In the summer of 2006, Plastiscines—not Phoenix—seemed the most likely French band to turn U.S. music fans into full-blown Francophiles. Owing a heavy debt to the stripped-down classic rock of the Kinks, as well as more modern derivations like the Libertines and the Strokes, Plastiscines prized sloppy, simplistic guitar hooks over the slick, danceable beats that had dominated the music of last generation's French exports. While there were other French groups flaunting a similarly ramshackle sound (e.g. Second Sex, Naast), of all the contenders it was Plastiscines, with their attractive, all-female lineup and mostly English lyrics, who were pegged as the obvious commercial gatecrashers. Their debut, LP1, sweet and undeniably fun as it was, perhaps suffered from poor timing, having been issued just as America's interest in carefree, no-frills garage rock had begun to wane. Plastiscines barely made a dent, let alone the other French bands waiting in the wings. For About Love, their new album released this past June, the Parisian foursome dramatically retooled their sound, recruiting Butch Walker to apply a shiny, Donnas-esque sheen. If the bolder approach isn't always successful, it should give them a better chance of getting noticed this time around. With Cobra Starship, the Friday Night Boys, and DJ Skeet. All ages. All ages. (Photo by Paul Erik)
Wed., Aug. 5, 5 p.m., 2009