The Plastic Constellations We Appreciate You by: Riki Gardner Fri:09-May-08 Label: French Kiss Year: 2008 WB rating 45 out of 100

There has always been a certain level of adulation placed upon those few bands that could successfully maintain their signature sound while continuing to make sonically diverse music. Pink Floyd did it, Black Sabbath did it, Led Zeppelin mastered it and then The Plastic Constellations took the concept, mixed all the sounds that those bands made together and made an album out of them. The end result is a complete mishmash, too unfocused stylistically and over complicated throughout. This trend is particularly evident on tracks such as ‘Hardland/Heartland’ which sees the group straddling a bizarre line between Led Zeppelin and Millencollin. The grandeur of the song’s opening bars attempt to create, or rather recreate, an atmosphere not unlike that expected from a Zeppelin record. However, once the effects of the opening bars begin to wear off there is little left but mindless guitar thrashing and wailing vocals to keep the listener interested.

Appropriation is another concern with this album, as there are certain sections which, to this writer at least, bare a striking resemblance to well-worn song ideas. In particular the opening of the track ‘Heat Knocker’ seems to borrow heavily from ‘Thru the Eyes of Ruby’ – taken from the very popular Smashing Pumpkin’s record Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. However, true to form, the original was a much more fluid composition which did not need to rely on brash overstatement to make its message clear.

There are some interesting moments on this album but they are frequently overshadowed and outnumbered by the number of retread riffs and old ideas presented. This lack of inspiration and innovation is this album’s greatest shortfall, as the Plastic Constellations more than live up to their name and deliver a record which seems sonically devoid of ingenuity and depth.

The album’s penultimate track, ‘Phantom Canyon’, does provide a brief respite from an otherwise lacklustre record. Its multidimensional composition allows the audience to hear what the album might have been, had the band decided to invest its time and energy on developing their own sound rather than tarting out the outdated and uninspired sounds of a post-Nirvana music era.

The Plastic Constellations would have hoped to be launched into the stratosphere with this release, however they have clearly missed the mark on so many levels. This record could have been improved in many areas, perhaps if the band had spent more time nurturing the qualities that made them unique, not the traits which make them the same as so many other acts they may have created a record which did not need to maintain the equilibrium that this record so desperately craves.