**1/2 Plexi
CHEER UP
(Sub Pop)
Cheer Up offers two takes on
psychedelic punk in the first two tracks. "Forest Ranger" churns like a
Swervedriver track, with fancy drum work over a crescendo of shrill notes
buried in feedback. "Dimension" is a punk rave of speed metal and sneering with
a whining hook. The guitars on "Roller Rock Cam" toss notes into a canyon,
creating the aural atmosphere of the Kitchens of Distinction before compressing
the same guitars in a wall of angry noise. The effect is unusual, something
like the Ramones fronting the Wedding Present.
Plexi's mix on their album is jarring. You're watching the lava lamp during
the first minute of "Peel," as Michael Barragan re-creates the sound of whales
calling; you're pounding the floor when he's jamming chords in synch with
Michael Angelos's furious bass. I like Plexi's goth rock on "Change" and their
thrashing metal on "56," but the successful combination on "Mountains" is the
sound they're really after -- or should be.
-- Craig Thorn