October 03, 2012 @ 11:36 am
Plastards
The Plastards are one of Tacoma's rowdiest, most bombastic punk bands. They're also hopeless slackers, which explains the ridiculous wait for “A Trainwreck of Happy Accidents,” the quartet's decade-in-the-making debut CD.
The 20-track collection started trickling into local businesses this summer: Rocket Records, Hi-Voltage, the vending machine at Top of Tacoma; various jukeboxes. And earlier this week we met singer-bassist Bill Schlanbusch at Magoo's Annex to ask, “What's up with all the procrastination?”
TW: So what are we looking at here? The new Plastards CD, which isn't new, per se.
BS: It's old stuff. The first recording was done in the Plastards' lair in 2002 – seven or eight tracks and we sat on it, got lazy and then didn't do anything. Then we thought, 'That's stupid.' So, in '08 we recorded five or six more and did that same thing. (We) got stupid and lazy and then decided (forget it), we're never gonna put a record out, 'cause that's our dogma. Then we did some more in 2010. We did, like, six or seven more songs. Then that was gonna be the one we put out like and e.p. or a demo to get some more gigs out of town.
TW: But technically it's the debut.
BS: Yes, it's the debut album by the Plastards. It would be a “best of” if we'd released anything before. We almost wanted to go vinyl and do a double LP, but that is so much money that there was no way to do it. So we just swallowed it and said, "This is it."
That being said, we're still gonna record some more. I think that the the moratorium on releases is off.
TW: You just had to break the seal.
BS: Yeah, that's exactly it. We want to do a single. We want to do a 7-inch vinyl. None of us have ever had anything put out on vinyl, except our drummer who was in Poppa Wheelie. And we'll see what happens here.
There were a few songs we recorded in these sessions that didn't make it. And maybe they'll be included on a future release. It's been 11, 12, 13 years.
TW: So you're kind of the opposite of those hipster bands that get a lot of buzz the month after they form and have a record out right away.
BS: That's kind of it. We started thinking that it all happens at practice. We all show up on Tuesday night to have our three to four hours of drinkin' a couple of extra beers and makin' some noise. That really is why we do it. And after a while of having these aborted attempts at making a record we decided that was gonna be good enough. And then we got over it.
[The Plastards are also Rich Bundy, Ryan Anderson and Bob Lurvey. Click the vid below for a sample of their gritty punk goodness, cut called "Cept Do It."]
