One thing that separates humans from other animals is the ability to imagine a world without oneself in it. This extends to the world after your death, places you're unlikely ever to visit, fantasy worlds that don't actually exist, and of course the world as it existed before you were born. As such, we have a strange ability to be nostalgic for things we never actually experienced, which keeps young bands coming back to music that bloomed and faded long before they could walk, much less be cognizant of cultural currents.
The members of French quartet Plastiscines weren't around for the first wave of punk-- they were barely in primary school when Nirvana broke-- but that doesn't stop them from having a genuine affinity with the sounds of the UK and Manhattan undergrounds from ten years before their time. The "Hey, I can do this too" spirit of early punk is what shines through most brightly here, though the notion is filtered through the Libertines, the Strokes and riot grrrl. There's very little information on this band in English, but the hilariously/horrendously translated interviews I've read all seem to detour into observations of how unusual it is for four 19-year-old French women to start a punk band and release an album, along with discussions of the attendant resentment they've incurred in their homeland.
The band's approach is basic, a few chords chugging along on distorted guitars, drums and bass thudding away, but lead vocalist Katty has a low, brassy voice, backed by exuberant group singing from her bandmates that puts them closer to the Clash's pop classicist end of the punk spectrum. The album is split between French and English songs. Though the English can be charmingly awkward, with strangely accented words and syllables, I generally prefer them in French, where their confidence really comes through.
One exception there is "Human Rights", one of a couple songs that finds the band reaching into the political realm with a plea for consideration over a rugged punk tune that takes a few cues from the Adverts. Lead single "Loser" is sung entirely in French apart from the title, which works well with the great chorus melody. This song best showcases the group's pop chops, and ultimately, I think they have more potential moving in that direction than they do getting more agitated.
Further evidence is on display in "(Zazie fait de la) Bicyclette", which nips at the group vocals with new wave organ and accentuates the bounciness of the rhythm with bubbling glockenspiel. It's something of a nod to the groovy pop of 1960s France, where eccentricity and humor rode shotgun with arty seriousness. Likewise, "Pop in, Pop Out!" is a hugely enjoyable nod to the excitable ye-ye pop of a long-gone era-- that could totally be Brigitte Bardot squeaking out the title between instrumental spasms.
Producer Maxime Schmitt, a longtime Kraftwerk associate and EMI record executive, keeps things stripped and focused on the girls, but more importantly, he hasn't pressed them to expand the songs beyond their natural lengths. More than half the album's thirteen songs clock in under two minutes, and the whole thing whips by in less than a half hour, which is perfect for this kind of thing. The Plastiscines offer basically what you hope for from musicians their age: huge potential for the future and a lot of fun right now.
