Revenge – Plastic Section (Chaputa Records)
If you ask us, “refinement” and “Rock and Roll” make strange bedfellows and Melbourne’s Plastic Section is a case in point. This retro trio is so out of kilter with 99.999 percent of the straight musical world that it hurts. And in a time where music is an ever debased commodity, that is very much a good thing.
Plastic Section take their lead from rockabilly, rough-edged R&B and ‘50s rock and roll. “Revenge” is their album nomenclature, but reverb is their religion and they worship at the altar of Link Wray.
It should be no surprise. The band’s lineage is in outfits like The Exotics, Wrong Turn, The Wraylettes, Wet Ones and Girl Monstar. They probably wouldn’t have existed over the course of a couple of albums and an EP in any Australian city other than Melbourne.
From the raw 1min plus outburst of opener “Insane” to the closing cover of Link’s “Deuices Wild”, this is an unrestrained ride. Songs about highways and hot rods, flick-knives and getting out alive.
Over the course of a dozen originals and five obscure covers, drummer Sue sits in the pocket and pushes without losing feel, Ben peels off razor-sharp notes and croak-croons, and Pip lays down a warm undertow of bottom end. Like Charlie Feathers on a good recording day, it’s addictive.
This isn’t music for people who thought the final Cramps record was the ultimate in primitivism when it was really a cartoon. Good on ‘em and may they rest In peace, but this goo goo muck is in a different class.
While Lux and Ivy spent much of their career learning their way around a studio; Plastic Section put their faith in A Secret Location’s resident engineer Paul Maybury (Rocket Science) and let Mikey Young’s mastering do the rest.
The covers blend seamlessly with the originals and titles like “Rip Off”, “Frenzy” and “Party Crashes” give you a feel for what to expect.
Lots of wankers make noise about their vintage amplifiers. Some of them can play them. Others just get on and do it. Plastic Section’s output sounds ace and their only major concession to the Modern Age is that you can download the rest of their output via the ubiquitous Bandcamp platform.
At the risk of being called a vinyl fetishist, it would be a shame not to experience “Revenge” on vinyl. Cool Portuguese label Chaputa Records - home to like-minded sould like The Maggots and Flamin’ Sideburns) - has obliged. You can score a copy there or from the band at their Melbourne album launch at Nighthawks on August 29.
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