Plasticland's acid-drenched neo-psychedelic sound bore some resemblance to L.A.'s concurrent paisley underground scene, but instead of drawing their chief inspiration from
the Velvet Underground, the Milwaukee quartet had a greater affinity for vintage garage rock and British mind-benders like
Syd Barrett-era
Pink Floyd and
the Pretty Things. Formed in 1980 out of the ashes of prog rockers
Arousing Polaris,
Plasticland included vocalist/guitarist/organist
Glenn Rehse, guitarist
Dan Mullen, bassist
John Frankovic, and drummer
Vic Demechei, who debuted that summer with the "Mink Dress" single on Scadillac. Several more singles and EPs followed, including 1982's
Pop! Op Drops (whose material later became part of the band's first album); there were also several personnel shifts, as
Demechei was replaced first by
Bob DuBlon, then
Rob McCuen. (Several tracks with
the Violent Femmes'
Brian Ritchie on guitar were also recorded during this era.)
Plasticland's first full-length,
Color Appreciation, was issued on the French Lolita label in 1984; a year later, it was re-released in America by Pink Dust with two different tracks, titled simply
Plasticland. The follow-up,
Wonder Wonderful Wonderland, was released before the end of 1985, and featured Mellotron and bouzouki, among other vintage psychedelic accoutrements. By the time of 1987's
Salon,
Demechei had returned to the fold.
Plasticland subsequently resurfaced on the Midnight label with a pair of live albums: 1989's
You Need a Fairy Godmother featured onetime
Pink Fairies/
Pretty Things drummer
Twink, and 1990's
Confetti. In the late '80s, a German fan commissioned an album,
Dapper Snappings, for his Repulsion label. The albums was eventually released in 1994. Some of the band's early recordings were collected on
Mink Dress and Other Cats, while a career-spanning collection was issued in 2006.
–
Steve Huey, Rovi