SODAS IN HELL
(released on Epic in September 1991)
Most of the details about the making of this album and its songs can be read in the FORTUNATE SMILES section. It's worth noting, however, first of all that Sony insisted on this being a budget-line release in slimline package, clearly marked with stickers all over it proclaiming it "ALL-NEW INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC" and assuring the potential buyer that "THIS IS NOT A POP RECORD."
Also, Plaastik was still determined that they would not lose this game. In order to make an extremely uncommercial album even weirder, they added several tracks consisting of odd sound effects, one of which, "Mix," stretches for almost ten minutes. Sony, despite their obsession with this being a low-key release, asked that it be held off until August 1991 to squeeze out maximum sales potential, and, in a truly appalling move, that the band release singles. "Mix" became the first of these, and thanks to various contract obligations, Epic couldn't say a word about it. To their credit, however, Plaastik had families to feed and they finally issued one of the discarded "pop songs" from FORTUNATE SMILES, "Two," as a stand-alone single release with a remixed "Broaden."
SODAS IN HELL has become a fan favorite, and its surprising success -- given its origins -- led to Plaastik mounting a similar method for releasing their OLIVES & SUCH record in 1994... this time intentionally as a separate release. The improvisational nature of these songs has barred them from live performances.
tracklist:
1. Stopping Raw
2. All the Circles (single 3)
3. Grabbing
4. An Inspiration
5. Broaden (single 2)
6. Wild Sound
7. Drop Soap
8. All Too Rare
9. Petty Hawk
10. Mix (single 1)
Mix b-sides
Play With
Steal the Show
The Broaden/Two EP
Broaden [single version]
Two
Where is My Soda? It's in Hell! (About Last Night)
Stopping Raw
Where Did Our Love Go?
Broaden
All the Circles b-sides
Starstruck
My Full Attention