Ted Hansen, Rick Hansen, Jay "Bunny" Olsa, Brian Dudla, Gabriel Tavares
Influences
Camper Van Beethoven, Soul Coughing, Peter Gabriel-era Genesis, Flaming Lips, Tom Waits, Can, 16 Horsepower, The Sugarcubes, Talking Heads, Cibo Matto, Mike Doughty, Johnny Dowd, Finley Quaye, The Fountains, Robyn Hitchcock, Ali Farka Toure, Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, The Police, Portishead, R.E.M., Radiohead, Wilco, Violent Femmes,
Sounds Like
"...the combatant entanglement of urban and agrarian sounds...embracing an epic eclecticism that catapults them far beyond the realms of comfortable rurality. An artistic remit that certainly reaps rewards in the stylistic shape-shifting stakes..." "...like a Radiohead from the boondocks..." "...Sort of calm, but crazy. And bouncy..." "...dense and adventurous textures, dubwise tendencies... bit like Delta blues as produced by King Tubby and voiced by a college singer/songwriter..." "...dark, surrealistic, droning, unexpectedly explosive..." "...dark and mischievous... music I could imagine myself dancing to at an all night rave in a barn in the middle of the country, surrounded by nothing but corn fields, cow pastures, and chicken pens..." "...enigmatic, entrancing...This could be a soundtrack for off-kilter folks who populate the towns in 'X-Files' or 'Twin Peaks..." "...percussive, sequential but only slightly linear, post-folk art-groove music... more than a generous streak of soulful two-step and a heaping dollop of mordant, Celtic mysticism..." "...a cleverly self-deprecating announcement of false musical statehood..."
Plastic Nebraska's music instills in its listeners three things. One is often a sense of uncomfortable wonder mixed with empathic pity. A brow-furrowed head-tilted sick sad voyeurism. The other is a pasty, trancedancing introspective wiped on underneath a sly smile. The third is shared like a good couch on a winter movie night: It is the dichotomy of a vague certainty: "Why do I like this?" A slippery something wrapped up in your new favorite food that you're lucky to get half of. Part of their fanbase fancies themselves thinkers, though they aren't quite sure if it is not just pretension. The other half just likes to dance. Some of both camps are drug users, but every band has those. They don't count in the statistics world anyway. Mostly, PN appeals to the thick swatch of grey area where the pre and post nut-jobs live. For the most part, the neurotic lazy bastards dance less, but better than the easy-goin' ex-hippies. The manure of change gets trucked in every growing season, but someone has to rent the trucks.
...The music steeps itself in deep emotion not well disguised as a plain utilitarian asphalt sidewalk. The dual lead vocals works like Siamese twins. Each wants to go somewhere separately, but they will of course end up in the same place. They pull, softly, so as not to tire themselves. They are very well aware of their predicament. One wants to go to the zoo, and one to the pool. So, together they go to the kwikee mart.
They are most certainly not a unique mix of reggae, rock, cajun, country, zydeco and folk. Instead they are looked over and around, like a family of freaks on a blanket at a Dave Matthews concert. They are an embarrassing secret, that once shared with like afflicted, great comfort is taken, and regional support groups are formed. A time-release perception pill filled with goodies but coated with a sour bitter gelatin. The band has no particular philosophies to depart, for they do not understand their position to be of any importance. It is but a hobby to most of them, and it is this indifference that is so damn enjoyable to witness. They make the crowd come to them.
As if the crowd doesn't have 'serious' jobs to go to on Monday as well.
CONGRATULATIONS PLASTIC NEBRASKA!!! Your song Dragon Moog was used to score the film "Whisper Me a Lullaby". It has been given the Silver Ace Award by The Las Vegas International Film Festival and was chosen as an Official Selection in The Washington DC Independent Film Festival. Thank you for the support! Check out the film poster and info at http://web. me. com/christinavinsick/Folded_Leaf_Productions/Films. html
Hey- it's Steve Keller from WCVF many, many years ago. Check out my band; Best Supporting Actor. I live outside of Orlando now. Glad to see you guys are still playing.-S
