HERD POLITICS
(released on MCA in August 1994)
During demo sessions for this album in 1993, Nick Parker stated in Rolling Stone: "We are interested in the contrast between melody and chaos. The album we are making is infected with the discoveries we made on 'It's Late It's Awful' and the like. It's where we are as a band at this point. I don't know if it is an album for fans. I do know it will be followed by a tour for fans." He was startlingly close to the truth. HERD POLITICS is, for the most part, as heavy as TODAY'S CAJUN SPICE, but far less radio-friendly. It's an album of, as one reviewer put it, "worldly punk."
Although POLITICS, produced by ex-Modern Lover Jerry Harrison, contains several of the most beautiful melodies in Plaastik's catalog to date, it also has some of their least orthodox, most chaotic performances, and these extremes are not mutually exclusive. The guitars roll forward, displaying the influence of grunge, and the piano so prominent on the previous album has nearly disappeared.
Jeff Jooce: "We have never before recorded an album with our minds so thoroughly on the final product for the entire duration. Nick wrote most of the vocal melodies, and he sat at a piano and came up with basic ideas for songs that we later fleshed out. We are focused on multifaceted, durable material, and if a song could not exist comfortably in both a quiet and a loud setting, it was either left unfinished or thrown off the album." Many of the unfinished cuts became b-sides or fodder for the semi-ambient lo-fi synth-instrumental album OLIVES & SUCH, derived from the same sessions yet astonishingly different (and with plenty of piano). Similar fates existed for a few of the finished songs that didn't survive the final cut of the LP. "Hamlet," one of the most beloved of all Plaastik compositions, was placed on OLIVES when it was decided that to drench it in feedback and noise would ruin it. Others, like "Makin' M'Self a Fort," "Punkers," and "Yeah (In Camelot) Yeah," weren't so lucky.
The record, which shot to #2 on release, was far less an event to the fan base than the tour that followed, which fulfilled every conceivable expectation and went beyond them all. The band went on stage for nearly three hours at each show, playing two long sets with a half-hour acoustic set in the middle. These legendary shows were unanimously praised by fans and critics alike, and the setlists -- pulling out classics from all corners of Plaastik's repertoire -- were astonishing.
Today, although it's acknowledged that HERD POLITICS produced its share of great Plaastik moments, the concensus is that was very much a product of its time and is easily upstaged by both the tour and the next major LP project to follow. Early perceptions of it as a "classic" appear to have been unfounded for most, but the record is a fine listen, as overplayed as its hits became. On the other hand, OLIVES & SUCH, released the same day and enjoying a much different genesis, was panned by everyone at the time but has slowly gained a cult following. See its page for more.
tracklist:
1. On Your Breath
2. Animal Farm
3. Crazy (single 1)
4. Jesus
5. Blank Page
6. Upstairs (single 2)
7. Confused People (single 3)
8. Noises
9. Screaming Melody
10. Serenade
Crazy b-sides
Sizable?
Bear's Brother (Herd Politics)
Upstairs b-sides
Crazy [version B]
Crazy [version C]
Daddy's Little Girl/Jesus/Noises/Screaming Melody/Serenade [live 1994]
Confused People b-sides
One
Wind