A couple of months ago The Plastic Pals released their debut album “Good Karma Café”. A solid, exciting rock and powerpop album with a collection of strong tracks with The Plastic Pals’ own special sound. It feels like great retro mixture molded into something new. I get so many associations to this that I find it hard to tell them apart into some kind of description.

Sixties pop, psychadelia, Blue Öyster Cult, Television, and yes it feels clean and rough at the same time. I really love the vocals from Håkan Soold, which adds a lot of soul to the music and keeps everything together. A really good album that grows each time I listen to it.

Below you’ll find a couple of tracks from Good Karma Café plus a video. Visit The Plastic Pals on Myspace to listen and read more.

She’s Going Back:

Here Comes the Sun
Long and Lovely

Anyone who has listened to “Godzilla” with Blue Öyster Cult knows what a great song it is. When you hear it as the opening act, with downtuned guitars and a massive wall of sound, on a Fu Manchu concert, you just freak out! I was 30 years old when I saw them at KB in Malmö, but I acted like I was 17…

There is a good chance that Are We Ape also like Fu Manchu. Not that they are some kind of clones, but the sound with downtuned instruments and fuzzy guitar licks has similarities and is just as good.

It’s a kind of heavy rock that the band presents, but with cool riffs, good vocals and melodies, they do a really good job.

I don’t know why, but I have always thought that you have to be an American to make this kind of rock. Well then, now Are We Ape has proved me wrong about this,…unless they have migrated to Malmö from the States. :-)

Time to headbang to some of their tracks:
Magic Tongue
Are We Ape?
Monsieur Falk

Visit the band:
Are We Ape? on Myspace

Keep cool,
Jeppe

(translated by Pär/Blindmen)