Right, time to get some more content up on this here blog. There’s no lack of music to write about - unfortunately I have to roll out my usual excuse of being time poor, again; I’ve mostly needed to focus on live write-ups and highlights posts over the past few weeks (months), although to be fair on myself I have written quite extensively for other publications recently.
What better way to make up for lost time than to try to work my way through my private ‘Listen Later’ playlist.
First up, a track I added to that playlist almost a year ago: an almost perfect execution of ‘90s indie/garage/grunge rebooted and polished with 2020s sensibilities. The band is Plasticine, a four-piece from Glasgow. They only formed in 2022 and have just a few releases to their name so far, but those releases trace a strong, consistent arc.
Their most recent song - ‘Do You Think She’s Pretty’ - came out on 6 October. I like it a lot, too. It’s a brooding, reflective grunge ballad - the kind of song which fills me with nostalgia, for those pre-digital, offline days when music like this first awoke. But I’ve chosen ‘Do Bad Boys Go To Heaven’ today because it’s the first Plasticine song I heard.
The first thing we hear, here, is a single electric guitar note, which buzzes and reverberates for a few seconds, beginning to fade before drums kick in to resurrect the energy - and pump it up several notches. Grunge-rock riffs take over, then there's a drop-away to introduce Summer Skye's strong, smoky vocals. And then, a very nicely judged build, which is almost so subtle you don't notice it. Before you realise, we're hitting into a pumped-up chorus.
That chorus is a brilliantly written, and executed, piece of songwriting: it's really catchy and understatedly-smart, too.
You took my inner woman, woman, woman.
You got me close to nothing, nothing, nothing.
My luck is never-ending, ending, end it.
Do bad boys go to heaven, heaven, heaven?
That use of repetition at the end of each line, with a slight twist on the third line, is great; and then we get to the question, the title of the song. It's a rhetorical one, or at least it remains unanswered in the song itself - I guess we can provide the answer ourselves.
After the second chorus, a bridge section - vocals and sparse guitar exploring the song's theme (which I interpret as being all about the toxicity of certain types of relationship, and gaslighting) and then a reprise of that chorus, toned down into something more reflective.
Then, a satisfying blast through to the ending - which doesn't come too quickly. The band has fun with this song, repeating the catchy riffs plenty of times, but also not overdoing it.
This is not a smooth, highly polished song; neither is it an epic, layered masterpiece. What it is is an honest exposition of a band’s heart and soul, and a translation of internal feeling into sounds we can all share in. It's also totally contagious and loads of fun to listen and sing along to;
Listen to the track below, and follow Plasticine on Facebook, Instagram and X (if it's still called that by the time you read this)