I was introduced to plastickiz through an Instagram message to the band’s album release show. I hadn’t heard of plastickiz before but after starting to listen to their album, I was reminded of older Japanese punk rock that I listened to in college. But the album doesn’t sit in this one style and offers more as you work through the tracks.
“Walk Walk Walk” is a quick introduction so Shining Blues really gets started on “DREAMCAST.” The song mixed Japanese melodic punk and Korean rock together. Depending on the style you’re more familiar with, you will hear those bits during the song. It’s a fun track that gets your attention.
plastickiz spends a lot of time supplying high-energy songs. “USA” and “Incense” are the two highlights of the album and where the band can attract the newest listeners. But plastickiz is also able to supply slower and melodic indie rock songs. To me, they’re almost as good as the high-energy songs but lack a bit of addictiveness.
Essentially, most of them feel like break songs. I think one of the issues with Shining Blues is how the album is ordered. I think “Tortoise” would have worked later in the album, and sorting the songs differently would keep your attention more. I think there are good songs at the end of Shining Blues, but they get a little lost and blend together after the strong start.
plastickiz released a decent album. It has highs and lows, but also an unevenness that creates some big highs and some deep lows. There are a good amount of memorable songs and it might need some time to cook before it really shines.
Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Apple Music | Spotify | YouTube Music
Chris P
Korean Indie owner and Editor at Large. Constantly looking for new music and working on library parity on Spotify and YouTube Music.