rts,
The Michigan Daily Tuesday, June 2, 1981 Page 7
Plastics live up to their name

By MARK DIGHTON
S: Hello?
M: Hello dear.
S: Oh, hi Mom.
M: How are things?
S: Okay, except that I have a big
Chem test tomorrow that I've been
studying all day for.
M: Were you studying last night too?
S: No. Why? -
M: I called and your roommate said
something about plastics.
S: Oh, no. I went to Detroit to see a
band called The Plastics.
M: Oh, are they from Detroit?
S: No. Actually, they're Japanese.
M: How do they sing?
S: Really great. Well, the guy who
sings is just really good, but the girl
singer is absolutely wild. She twists
every line into this insanely gleeful
schoolgirl squeal.
M: But I mean, how do they sing?
How do you understand them, I mean.
S: Ohhhh, I get it. Most of their songs
are in English, Mom. There's a few
Japanese words in them, but not that
many.
M: Do they play Japanese music?
S: Well, not really. They don't even
do songs, exactly. They sort of just do
dancebeats with weird little vocal cat-
ches. The best one is this one where the
guy is singing about technology and
stuff when the girl squeaks, "Ohhh,
shut up baby. Don't be so serious" ex-
cept that she says "serious" like "silly-
us." I mean, they speak English real
good, but I think
M: Well.
S: Huh?
M: Well. They speak English well,
Michael-not good-they speak it
well.
S: Right Mom, they speak it well, but
I think they fake in their songs that they
don't know it all that well. But anyway,
their accents are really a scream. You
have to read the. lyric sheet to know
"Jerry Hall" isn't "Jelly Haw."
M: Who's Jerry Hall? Is he in the
band?
S: Uh, no. It's not really important.
M: But what's so Japanese about
these people. Do they play Japanese in-
struments?
S: Uhm, no ... well, yeah . .. sort
of. They play guitars sort of like The B-
52s but
M: Weren't the B-52s that cute group
we saw on Saturday Night Live with the
singer that looked like your Aunt Judy
p Reporters that go
where the story is at.
Read the Daily today!

when she was in high school? They cer-
tainly didn't look Japanese.
S: They're not, Mom. The Plastics
are Japanese. They sound like the B-52s
except that
M: I liked them; they werecute.
S: Yeah, Mom, but The Plastics don't
have a drum set or bass guitar. They
just have this guy who plays a
preprogrammed rhythm box.
M: What's that?
S: Oh, it's just a kind of synthesizer
that sounds like drums, but very loud,
very exact drums. It sounded sort of
dopey on the album, but last night I
kept looking around for the great
drummer and then realizing that it was
that unassuming little black box in the
back that was so hot. The guy who sings
also plays some great percussion so it
doesn't sound completely automatic.
M: And how much did the tickets cost
for this group?
S: Seven dollars, but that wasn't so
bad because the other band was really
good, too.
M: Were they also Japanese, dear?
S: Oh, no Mom. They're from Detroit.
They're called L7.
M: Well then, if they're not Japanese,
what kind of music do they play?
S: Mostly funky stuff, but they do
a lot of different things.
They just don't get set in their mind
that "This is how funk sounds, so we'll
play this formula over and over again"
like some other local groups. So, they
range pretty freely from the frenzied,
funky chaos of bands like The Slits to
the studied studio perfection of The
Talking Heads, with stops at James
White and the Blacks and X-Ray Spex.
M: Oh Michael, these bands you listn
to always have the cleverest names. If
they con't always make good music, at
least they can always make up good
names.
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S: But, the best thing about L7 was
that I wasn't bored with them at the end
of their set, I usually am with most
local bands; I don't really care to hear
an encore because I can almost predict
what it would sound like. L7 always
kept me guessing about what they
would do next, so I really wanted to
hear more.
M: Well, that's nice dear. It sounds
like you're having fun. I hope you're
still finding the time to study for your
chemistry exam.
S: Oh, sure Mom.
M: I just wantedto tell you that your
father mailed you a check yesterday to

cover this month's tuition. Remember
-to deposit it right away because you
know how the bank puts those checks
on hold for such an ungodly amount of
time. And remember dear, that if you
want to keep going to those punk con-
certs, you have to pay for them your-
self. Don't come crying to us for any
money to see The Vinyls or whatever.
You'll just have to work more hours in
the dorm cafeteria if you want to keep
doing that.
S: Okay, Mom.
M: Write us soon and let us know how
you are. Bye. Love.