Rock 'n' roll party!

Plastic Section will bring their raw rock 'n' rhythm review to Harmonic in Bangkok (Ozono, Sukhumvit Soi 39) on Friday October 18. Also playing are amazing chaotic Thai surf garage rockers Triggs and the Longest Day. Between and before bands will be a choice selection of raucous rockin' sounds played loud, with cult film projections and local beer at the bar. Be there if you're in Bangkok!

It's Official.

Plastic Section did recently an interview for the October issue of L'Official Hommes (Thailand) magazine on the night of our album launch at WTF Bar in Bangkok. Here's the spread:

Plastic Live!

Plastic Section's self-titled album is now available on iTunes, as well as on CD.

iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/plastic-section/id664404668

We've been playing quite a few shows in Bangkok and have been getting some nice feedback. Renowned American journalist Joe Cummings wrote a great review of our recent set at Fatty's Bar and Diner for Bangkok 101 magazine. The published review was an abridged version, so I thought I'd post the full version of the review here:

Music

By Joe Cummings

REVIEW

Wednesday

Pool People

Plastic Section

Triggs & The Longest Day

Fatty’s Bar & Diner, Thursday, 12 September

If you’re into live bands and haven’t been to Fatty’s yet, now is a good time to start looking at the weekly line-ups. This is a venue that’s on the verge of becoming a dependable stalwart for local music.

     One of the only bars – very possibly the only bar -- in the Rama 9/Din Daeng neighbourhood featuring original live music, Fatty’s sports the grungy feel of long-departed Rain Dogs, in a smaller space but with a better sound system and a menu of reliable food with such provocative names as Buffalo Hot Wangs, Cream Cheese Burgers and the Wisconsin Johnson.

     On a rainy Thursday night last month, four bands and their local fans and groupies, along with Fatty’s regular diehard beer-drinking music junkies, tucked themselves into the bar’s comfy nooks and crannies for a thumping evening of what the posters called ‘experimental garage rock twisted pop rock n'roll’.  

     Arriving around 10pm, Bangkok101 missed the opening act, called Wednesday, consisting of experimental guitar by Put Wednesday Suksriwan. Fatty’s gregarious owner and chef (himself an accomplished singer-songwriter in the Neil Young/Wilco vein) Matthew Fischer described it as ‘looped guitars and a Kaoss pad I think. It’s probably genius stuff’.

     Pool People were Benji Surangkanjanajai, a Thai-German keyboardist, singer and composer who lives in Berlin, accompanied by Nat Sanpawait Soikum on drums. Pool People songs consisted of intricate keyboard figures accompanied by wistful vocal melodies sung in English. More rehearsal would have yielded a tighter sound, but a rough, naïve charm shone through nonetheless.

      The highlight of the night came next. Plastic Section is led by Ben Edwards on guitar and slapback echo-drenched vocals, with Pok Pongprayoon on bass and harmony vocals and Put Wednesday again on drums. Those familiar with the local indie scene may recognise Ben from the band Basement Tape, while Pok is well known as one half of the duo Stylish Nonsense and for his production work with Panda Records.

     Unlike Basement Tape, a more sedate affair in which Ben alternates composing duties with Tat Bunnag, Plastic Section is clearly Ben’s pet project, with the Australian writing all of the band’s songs himself. He also played all the instruments on the rustic Plastic Section (Panda Records) CD, but tonight Pok’s inventive bass and blissed-out vocal support take the material to another level. In press material, Ben describes his music as ‘an experimental, idiosyncratic update of crazy rock 'n' roll, rockabilly and rhythm and blues’ and cites as influences Bo Diddley, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, The Gories, The 5678s, Beasts of Bourbon and The Cramps, among others. What we heard was good rockabilly bordering on great psychobilly. (Bangkok rockabilly poser bands take note; this is how it’s supposed to sound.)

       Capping off the night was Triggs and the Longest Day, who hacked at their guitars and howled into their mics with drunken abandon. Led by Tokin Teekanun on guitar and lead vocal, with Nopphon Cheng on bass, Sanpawit Soikum on drums and Chawalit Saowapakpongchai on guitar and backing vocals, their performance was haunted by a heavy hum – possibly from the guitarist’s pedal set-up -- that wouldn’t be tamed. The effort was there, though, and Bangkok 101 would like to catch this band again when their gear is cooperating.

      Conclusion: Without reservation, we can recommend Plastic Section if you like your rock 'n’ roll raw, raucous and clever.

Fatty’s Bar & Diner, Rama IX Rd, Tel 08 0557 1959

More info...

For the latest Plastic Section news, please also visit our more frequently updated Facebook page. Cheers!

Album track

Plastic Section's new album is about to be released on CD by Panda Records. It'll also be available through iTunes etc.. Here's a track from it.. the rest any day now..

Spin It Out

In other news - the next Plastic Section gig will be at Bangkok's groovy Fatty's Bar on Friday, July 12, with an amazing line-up including solo guitar experiment Wednesday, singer-songwriter Eico and the great folk rock of Matthew and the Fishes..

More gigs coming in July.. details soon!

Cheers to The King Khan & BBQ Show

It's been a while between posts here, so thought I'd do an update.

Last Saturday night (June 1) Plastic Section were a support band for the amazing King Khan and BBQ Show at Cosmic Cafe in Bangkok. It was a very fun night with a great crown and brilliant music. As well as being incredible performers, King Khan and BBQ were also great guys, happily signing the 7" singles they were selling (cheap too!), chatting with everybody and watching the support bands. Mark Sultan even very kindly gave me a copy of his "$" CD, which is excellent and highly recommended! Thanks also to Popscene for organizing another great event in Bangkok, and to The Standards who always put on a high-energy, exciting performance.

This gig was also the first with Plastic Section as a 3-piece, as Wannarit Pongprayoon (Pok) has joined myself and drummer (as well as guitarist) Put Wednesday Suksriwan  to play bass, filling out our sound in a very satisfying way.

In other news, Plastic Section's new album is about to be released on CD by Panda Records in Thailand. I'll post the cover, track list and details on how to grab a copy here when it's out.. any day now!

And finally, our next gig is on Saturday night at a new beer joint in Bangkok called Hemmingway's, near Asoke BTS station in Sukhumvit. We're on at 7pm - details here


One more thing - writer and Bangkok resident Dave Crimaldi has written some very kind words about Plastic Section on his excellent blog about the Thai indie scene. You can check it out here if you're interested.

Cheers!

Plastic at the Zoo

Following the next gig at Fatty's Bar in Bangkok on April 4 (see below) Plastic Section will be playing at a new venue called Zoo, near Democracy Monument in Bangkok (Zoo used to be called Chez Lodin). This will be an amazing night, with Thai artist Wednesday (experimental solo guitar improvisations), Eico (amazing Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist who is a very unique performer), My Post Life (Wannarit Pongprayoon from Stylish Nonsense doing his unique solo songs) and Plastic Section bringing the rock and the roll. Should be a good one!!

Plastic Section at Fatty's

Next Gig! Plastic Section are playing at the cool Fatty's Bar in Bangkok (10 mins walk from Rama 9 MRT station). Also on the bill are singer-songwriter Scott Allan Knost from the US and the amazing Thai band Chaldni Chandi. Organized by Popscene Live. Plastic Section will also be performing some new songs. More details here.

Note: Plastic Section will be plugged in!

Next gig - April 4

Been a while between posts here.. Last weekend I did a solo acoustic Plastic Section performance at the Keep On the Grass festival in Saraburi, Thailand. It was great fun! Here's the poster:

Photos from the event can be seen on our Facebook page.

At this stage, the next Plastic Section gig will be on Thursday April 4 at Fatty's Bar in Din Daeng, Bangkok - just down the road from where the last few Plastic Section albums were recorded. More details coming soon...

Small Faces

There is now a Plastic Section Facebook page, which is updated more frequently than this blog.. If you'd like to sign up for the latest updates and info, please visit here. Cheers!

Frantic!

Happy New Year! Plastic Section released a new album online called Frantic! to welcome the Year of the Snake, get it while it's free!

Frantic!

New music and gigs gigs gigs!

It's been a while between posts - just got back from a groovy trip to Japan with some nice whisky and even nicer records (Magic Sam, Pussy Galore, Guitar Wolf and Pizzicato V).

As soon as I got back I recorded two new songs, and added two recorded earlier in the year for a new Plastic Section EP called 'Off the Rails' - get it free here!

In other exciting news:

Plastic Section have four gigs coming up:

Thursday November 8 at the Robin Hood Hotel, a nice pub opposite Emporium on Sukhumvit Road in Bangkok. The night is presented by the great Popscene crew, so it's gonna be a good one.

Friday November 9 at the LUSH music and arts festival, being held at the very groovy Train Night Market in Bangkok's Chatuchak  district (near the famous Chatuchak weekend market). It looks like a great festival, with lots of bands, art events and performances. Details here.

Saturday November 10 at Harmonica (one of the best venues in Bangkok!) on Sukhumvit 39, with Little Fox, Before Champ, EICO and headlining the great guitar experimenter from the US, Dustin Wong! Check it out.

Saturday December 1, playing at 2 pm at the Stone Free II festival - a completely indie festival from Panda Records and The World Will Never Know crew, over three days with about 50 brilliant bands. In Saraburi, about an hour from Bangkok. Details here.

I'll be playing some different songs at every show, including some new ones from the upcoming new Plastic Section album. The multi-talented Bank Redtwenty will be on drums for most (all?) of the shows.

Gig on Sunday!

Plastic Section will play at Harmonica, Sukhumvit 39 in Bangkok this Sunday night, August 19, supporting the excellent Summer Dress. Starts around 9pm, 100 baht entry fee. See you there!

Plastic Section Rock N Roll!

Back to Motorcycle Emptiness

Plastic Section will be performing at the funky Motorcycle Emptiness Bar in Bangkok, near Town in Town. Come and have a beer and hear some of our new songs!

Plastic play on Sunday

This Sunday, July 15 Plastic Section are back at the groovy Harmonica on Sukhumvit Soi 39, Bangkok. Also playing is Plastic Plastic (seems to be a common theme here...) and Achi & Co. It should be a fun night of very diverse sounds, only 100 baht to get in which includes a drink. See you there!

Photos from recent gig..

Here are some nice photos taken by Kik Wongchalard during Plastic Section's recent performance at the Popscene night at Dickinson's Culture Cafe in Bangkok. Bank Redtwenty on drums. It was a really fun gig, broken strings and all!

Next Gig - 07.07.12

Plastic Section will play a Popscene Live event this Saturday, July 7 at Dickinson's Culture Cafe in Bangkok. I've never been to this venue, but the Popscene Live events are always great, as are Plastic Section's performances! This time with the multi-talented Bank Redtwenty on drum drums. We should hit the stage around 10pm. It's free. See you here!!

Free songs

There are quite a few Plastic Section songs that can be downloaded for free at Bandcamp. here's one of them:
Train Train Train

New Harmonica Gig, Friday June 29

On Friday June 29, Plastic Section will be playing at Harmonica again (one of Bangkok's coolest venues, on Sukhumvit 39), opening for rock band Zero Hero and rock and roll / rockabilly band The Keylookz - two of the most interesting bands in the Thai indie scene. I'm a late addition to the bill so my name isn't on the poster, but I'll be playing probably around 9pm. Should be rockin' see you there!

Sol Space

A Part of Me, A Part of You at Sol Space was a big success - great music all evening! Here's a photo by Tokin Teekanun taken during my brief set: