In 1981, a mildly successful painter named Nick Parker had a vision. It foretold what would become a revolution of alternative rock and, eventually, the very foundation of pop music. It began with a cheap $15 synthesizer, a borrowed banjo, a tape recorder, and a track called "Nachos."

Parker always remained vaguely modest about his acheievement -- "I just recorded this stupid little banjo line and then I said something stupid and now it's all this" -- but it was no joke when "Nachos (It's Like)" and its bombardment of remixes became the anthem of London's underground Happy Hardcore movement. Not even a trained musician, Parker found himself utterly bemused when his followup, "Funk," was the biggest techno hit in Stateside history.

Nick and his friends could not press enough of the self-distributed records to meet demands. Soon, Parker -- under the name Plaastik -- had been signed to a Minneapolis independent label called Crow Records. Joined by his girlfriend, Janet Kieran, plus friends Kevin Keys, Jeff Jooce, and Jay Kay Ray, Parker went into the studio for the first time, still unable to play a note on an instrument, and created one of the most chilling recordings of all time, a bruising experimental EP called FUN GOLDFISH TOYS.

The early electronica tidbits and the EP had created such a buzz around the band that when their pop-oriented major label debut album, NO PARKING ANYTIME, was finally released in 1983, it was considered a vast disappointment. Such was the fate of a group of young musicians doomed to a life of, as Lou Reed put it, "growing up in public."

Nonetheless, it's this precisely that makes Plaastik so explosive. Parker may not have been a musician when he gained notoriety, but as Plaastik's incredible '80s records progress, he is discovering not only the nuances of his own abilities as a performer, but his unconditional love for music ranging from the Kinks to Funkadelic. His eclectic tastes and eccentric talent turn his own work into something divine, otherworldly, and familiar all at once. Hence, the power pop and feedback drone of HEAR THE NEW NOISES, the unheard-of inclusion of a contemporary Depeche Mode cover on SALT.

By the time the band left Geffen Records in 1988, the unanimous opinion was that they had grown beyond any kind of well-defined status. The lineup had expanded to seven members; the music had become dramatic, minimalistic, and political, yet with an undeniably commercial appeal. This was R&B, rock & roll, you name it, and it had a brain.

Since their first year in the industry, Plaastik has become a force of arresting strength. Unstoppable, elegant, and ferociously adventurous, their music is everchanging but consistent, invariably fascinating. - DAVID FRICKE

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