Plexi
Cheer Up
Lava / Atlantic
Release Date: July 22, 1997
Some music is just BIG. From the Jurassic beerbelly of arena-rock to the expansive horizons of ambient, for one reason or another, some genres or artists get branded XXXL.
The Smashing Pumpkins, for example, were BIG from the moment they squeezed onto their first tinybarstage. Billy Corgan's personal demons are dwarfed only by the snarling epic-music beast that charges the audience at every show. Like circus trainers on crack, Corgan & Co. unleash lions from their instruments. Dig 'em or dog 'em, but you just can't beat 'em for sheer
size.
Raised hundreds of miles apart, in completely different American worlds, Plexi is a second cousin to the Pumpkins. That height! That girth! You can see the family resemblance if you look close, but you'd never guess they were related. One track should tell you that the Pumpkins aren't from L.A.; Plexi, on the other hand, probably couldn't hail from anywhere but.
Plexi churns out space-age punk for goth glampusses in drag. From the thunderroll and slidescreech of "Fourget" to the methamphetamine stumble of "Magnet," the album struts down Sunset Boulevard before ducking into a vacant doorway for a little rough-and-tumble. At least as much style as substance, Plexi is all glittery simmer, black eyeliner and leather pants. Genre tags need not apply. "Forest Ranger," the album opener and first single, rattles and sways with all the conviction of an Oliver Stone film. Equal parts atmosphere and attitude, it builds and breaks right into "Dimension," a bonecrunching two-minute buckshot. Moody and arrogant, self-contemplating and trying hard as hell to charm you out of your jeans, Plexi is a passive-aggressive mess in need of a Valium and a vacation. But of course, that would ruin the fun.
Cheer Up was too big even for the Sub Poppers, apparently. They released it last year but the album was picked up by Atlantic for reissue this month. One listen and it's not hard to tell why; during the more expansive riffs of "Peel," you can almost look out over the hordes competing for air at Madison Square Garden. The slick, sexy slink of "Day-Glo" is radio-ready, willing and able. This is BIG music.
-- Lindy Powell
powell@outersound.com
