Plastic Assault - We Score

I was a bit unsure of what to expect from this band when I picked up this CD because of the cover art and song titles, but I've never heard anything bad come from Bloodline Records, and the tradition continues with We Score. The music is fairly close to some of the most intense moments from early 90's Front Line Assembly, something like the harsher side of Caustic Grip, or Millennium without the guitars. The one distinguishing characteristic of Plastic Assault though is that the lyrics are all extremely violent. Every song on the disc except for one is about violence and killing people, and when you combine that with the images on the disc and inside the CD booklet, it's a little bit unsettling. I'm sure that was their intention though, I guess if you want to make an impact, that's one way to do it.

If you can get past the lyrical content, then it's definitely some good music (you can't understand the lyrics if you're not reading along anyway). Most of the vocals are a little bit scratchy, while a few of the songs have vocoded effects that blend in nicely. "Zero" is actually somewhat of a calm song, even though it's one of the faster tracks, the keyboard sweeps are very ambient sounding and relaxing overall. My favorite tracks on the disc are "Strangled", "Crackhead", and "Shotgun Blast". In listening to these songs, it becomes apparent that basslines are one of the band's strong points. Fast moving 16th-note riffs pulse throughout many of the songs which keep up the disc's frenzied pace. "It's OK" and "! Splat !" are also two of the better tracks, again sounding very much like Bill Leeb and Co. Also in the FLA tradition, almost every song on the disc here is well over 6 minutes long, so there's plenty of music here for fans of the harsh industrial dance scene.

For those who are not squeamish, information on Plastic Assault can be found at:
http://www.plasticassault.com

Arron Griffin

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