The Plastiscines - About Love

Looking at the Plastiscines it’s clear that, aesthetically, they symbolise the French fantasy. The all-girl Parisian quartet are beautiful, young and hot-tempered. The school girls, who came together at a Libertines gig in Paris in 2004, are now all aged between 21 and 22 are embarking on their first studio album ‘About Love’.

Regrettably, singer Katty Besnards sexy French accent is essentially wasted in this twelve-track album with only three songs being in French, the rest English. Opening English track ‘I Could Rob You’ plays on possible fragment of the girls obvious sexuality and gives a taste of demeanor and semblance of the following tracks that are drenched in indifference and nonchalance. The album peaks at track two ‘Barcelona’, where the girls have perfect that pop-rock sound with ease. The heavy, sultry vocals capture your imagination while drummer Anoushka Vandevyvere gives you various hand-clapping moments to play around with.

Following the peak has to be a low, the eye-rolling ode to adolescence ‘Bitch’. The quiet-quiet-loud built song sees obnoxious sounding Besnard defiantly spitting out lines such as: ‘I’m a bitch, When I walk my dog, I’m a bi-itch, When I fall in love, I’m a bitch, When I give a kiss, I’m a bi-itch, When I sing like this.’ Yet this is just the outer layer, look over the ostentatious lyrics and you will find Louise Basilien’s thick and heavy bassline teamed with Joan Jett guitars and an aggressive but cool collective sound.

This edgy sound bodes well throughout the album making leeway for only one ballad ‘I Am Down Tonight’. This track comes as a melodic shock to the system thanks to it’s soothing vocals and obvious signs of sensitivity. Yet Besnard’s blunt and assertive edge is lost to no one as she openly proclaims: ‘I am down tonight because of you.’ This telling side does not last for long before the feministic demeanor rears it’s Parisian head again in the prominent tracks ‘Pas Avec Toi’ and ‘Coney Island’, doing wonders for their come-hither aura. The language turns the chunky but pop-esque guitared songs into esoteric, romanticised odes of love and lust. Although, in reality they could be about absolutely anything as outro track ‘Coney Island’ proves with it’s title.

It’s somewhat difficult to understand where the Plastiscines are coming from on this short but sweet album. Somewhere along the line the irony was lost on us, and to replace it was nothing but disposability. All in all: groundbreaking? No. A classic? No. Fun? Yeah, sure why not.