Review: The Plastic Constellations

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The Plastic Constellations
“Mazatlan”
(2024)

Just a hint of white boy rock-rap comes to the surface from the depths of grinding guitars, almost like 311 meets a Fugazi/Pavement hybrid. The guitar skills here are evident and that is one of the most promising aspects of this album because the vocalizations seem to be lost in what direction they want to be taken. This Minneapolis band loves shifting, unpredictable tempos and indie-pop melded with rap-rock. This is a likeable band for it’s excellent riffs and this CD shows clear evolution from the band’s past efforts, but they still have a way to go. My recommendation is to ditch the white boy rap portions altogether and just stick to indie-pop where this band really shines–rap-rock went out with Limp Bizkit and 311 and keeping it in just makes the album seem awkward and unfulfilling.