SALT
(released on Geffen Records in July 1986)
In the words of Nick Parker: "After HEAR THE NEW NOISES we were millionaires and we didn't give a shit what Geffen wanted, so we didn't record for like a year." The band didn't return to the studio until they were good and ready, in March 1986, and then only as a three-man group (Janet, Nick, and Kevin) with the intention to record an album in less than a week. They chose the producer this time and they chose a beloved one, Roxy Music's Brian Eno, known as the inventor of ambient music and for his work with Devo, Talking Heads, U2, and a score of others.
The absence of other members of the band was, Plaastik insisted, not a sign that anyone was leaving, just that after all the stress related to the 1985 album, Jeff and Jay just weren't in the mood to spend more time in a studio.
This time there was no backlog of material to aid in the songwriting process, with only two early songs recorded and only one making the cut of the album, so collaboration became a necessity. Of the seven new original songs, only "Full Moon" and "The Breeze" are credited to any one band member, Nick Parker and Janet Kieran respectively. The others receive the ambiguous and hefty credit of "Eno/Keys/Kieran/Parker." Brian Eno became so involved with the band on the project, jamming with them to create songs and encouraging their wildest production ideas, that on the next record Plaastik set out specifically to find a 'hands-off" producer more interested in recording than performing.
However, the collaboration was considered a success and the entire album plus b-sides was finished in six days. "I love working like this," Kevin Keys said at the time. "There's no bullshit, you just get it out there." Nick Parker agreed. "We're finally starting to enjoy being in a band again," he laughed. The following year they'd finally be comfortable enough to tour again.
But for the time being, the lack of commercialism of the album made it another headache for Geffen, who were praying for a miracle since a mere week of sessions with Eno had cost more than all of Plaastik's previous booked studio time put together. The miracle never came. Although Plaastik was now building a fan base and the album initially charted at a respectable #19, it quickly plummeted after the hardcore fans all got their copy, and rose briefly only when "Public Building" became a hit.
Because the band had come through with such strong material before, and because nearly everyone who heard SALT loved it, the label could scarcely punish the band, but they did in their own way by moving them at the beginning of 1987 to the DGC imprint. With only two more LPs due in their contract and the band finally considering Plaastik's existence as a viable longterm option, shopping for a new label began quietly as the year closed.
tracklist:
1. Public Building (single 2)
2. Sexy
3. Food
4. Family Values (the Three Brothers)
5. People Magazine Wants to Know
6. Streetlight
7. Full Moon (single 1)
8. The Breeze
9. Nothing (single 3)
Full Moon b-sides
Evil Little Boys
Neighbor
Public Building b-sides
Jerk
Bagism (Take Out the Trash)
Nothing b-sides
1,000,000
Pinwheel Blood (Gory Music Box)