Plasticland

Emerging from Milwaukee, the quartet Plasticland developed an acid-soaked neo-psychedelic approach that shared surface similarities with the paisley underground happening at the same time in Los Angeles, yet the group drew its strongest influence from vintage garage rock and British freakbeat eccentrics such as Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd and the Pretty Things rather than the Velvet Underground. The band coalesced in 1980 from the remnants of prog rock outfit Arousing Polaris, featuring vocalist/guitarist/organist Glenn Rehse, guitarist Dan Mullen, bassist John Frankovic, and drummer Vic Demechei, who made their recorded bow that summer via the “Mink Dress” single on Scadillac. Additional singles and EPs appeared in quick succession, among them 1982’s Pop! Op Drops, whose songs later surfaced on the group’s debut album, while personnel changes ensued as Demechei yielded first to Bob DuBlon and then Rob McCuen; several cuts from the period also captured the Violent Femmes’ Brian Ritchie on guitar.

Plasticland’s inaugural long-player, Color Appreciation, appeared on the French Lolita imprint in 1984; one year afterward Pink Dust reissued the set in the United States under the plain title Plasticland, substituting two alternate tracks. The follow-up, Wonder Wonderful Wonderland, arrived before 1985 concluded and incorporated Mellotron and bouzouki among its array of period psychedelic instrumentation. By the release of 1987’s Salon, Demechei had rejoined the lineup. The band next surfaced on the Midnight label with two concert documents: 1989’s You Need a Fairy Godmother, which included onetime Pink Fairies/Pretty Things drummer Twink, and 1990’s Confetti. During the late ’80s a German admirer commissioned the album Dapper Snappings for his Repulsion label, though the collection did not surface until 1994.

A selection of the quartet’s earliest sides later surfaced as Mink Dress & Other Cats, while the career overview Make Yourself a Happening Machine arrived in 2006. An expanded, remastered edition of Plasticland’s American debut, accompanied by liner notes from Glenn Rehse, was issued in 2014. Drummer Rob McCuen died on August 11, 2021.