HEAR THE NEW NOIES
(released on Geffen Records in June 1985)
Although Geffen didn't necessarily blame Plaastik for their dire financial situation in late 1984, they weren't happy with the band's refusal to tour and, by the label's logic, neglect to produce commercial material. The company threatened to sue the band for breach of contract if they didn't prepare an album for release by the following spring... with a producer assigned by the label.
Plaastik openly regarded this as a ridiculous request, but felt they had no choice but to agree. As such, they were dragged to London in November 1984 to prepare a new set of radio-friendly material with Police producer Hugh Padgham, who admitted to being unfamiliar with Plaastik's previous work. In Kevin Keys' words, "it was a long, cold, lonely winter" with the band playing seemingly into a vaccum to an unimpressed Sting-bred producer.
The majority of the material was written this time especially for the sessions with Geffen's request for universally appealing pop music in mind. Nick Parker found this approach difficult and, of the new songs, only the sarcastic "Mainstream Single" is credited to him alone; the others are cowritten by Janet Kieran except "Vinyl," written by the entire band. Kieran dips into her own backlog of songs for the album closer, "Real," and offers her first recorded lead vocal.
In the end, Padgham found the band "impossible to work with"; they couldn't be tamed, and during the session for the largely improvised "Vinyl," he simply walked out of the studio and did not return for several days. Undeniably, though, the album was more pop-oriented than MR. EVIL BREAKFAST, even with its touches of weirdness, and was subversive enough ("There is no Santa Claus") not to alienate fans or critics. But as one writer pointed out, it was "precisely the album Plaastik would be expected to make, which is a pretty serious problem."
Nick Parker and other band members have called HEAR THE NEW NOISES the "worst Plaastik album" and have described recording sessions for it as a miserable experience, with band members not getting along and united completely against their by-the-book producer. Geffen, for its part, was pleased with the record, and in February, the trouble started. The label insisted that Plaastik go on tour to support the album, and Plaastik refused.
A lawsuit was very nearly filed before Hugh Padgham saved the day, encouraging Geffen to set up a massive advertising campaign for the album and convincing the band to remove one song (probably "The Old Mill") from the tracklist and replace it with Nick Parker's "throwaway" "Mainstream Single," intended as a b-side. When Jeff Jooce asked why both songs couldn't be included, "I was told that 'an eleven song album from Plaastik would not be a wise thing to release as this time.' They really said that!"
A controversy erupted over profane lyrics, but the band simply ignored the argument, and another one was brewing over the title, the pun HERE THE NEW NOISES. Geffen insisted it be changed to HEAR since it could be perceived as gramatically incorrect. Plaastik never approved the change. The label also didn't enjoy the third track, which simply consisted of a loud scream, but they left it alone.
The band was also poised strongly against "Mainstream Single" actually being released as a single, but they backed down when Geffen waved the touring card again and the song became a major hit, as did the album, peaking at #11, not on the level of NO PARKING ANYTIME, but a major improvement on the second album (highest position: #27).
The entire band was so frustrated after this experience that, once again, they all claimed to be retiring from the industry, and in fact Nick Parker, Janet Kieran, and Kevin Keys would record the next album alone.
tracklist:
1. Santa Claus
2. Only in Theaters (single 2)
3. ? (The Enigmatic Rise and Fall of Society: A Brilliant Analysis by Stephen Jay Gould)
4. Hurt Me
5. Vinyl (single 3)
6. Where We Live
7. A Crazy Bunch of People
8. The White House
9. Mainstream Single (single 1)
10. Real
Mainstream Single b-sides
Ruined
Watch the Time
Only in Theaters b-sides
Visitor (The)
Glory
Vinyl b-sides
The Newspaper
Reggae Mon