Plasticine

On the first night of their tour, Plasticine were welcomed to the intimate downstairs venue at Voodoo Daddies to share their glittery indie rock with the crowd that had gathered. Hailing from Glasgow, the group are far from home, but made their Norwich debut memorable.

Starting off the night were local punk rock favourites Amourette. Having briefly seen their set on the Inbetweeners Stage at Latitude this summer, I was excited to see their confident display of thrashing rock music again. Singer Lila is larger than life, moving abruptly and leaning forward to deliver vocals in the accusatory tone the music demands. ‘Cheque Please’, a song about a terrible date, was a highlight amongst the crowd, and the group’s punky exuberence set an unbelievably high bar for what was to come. From their catchy original songs, to their evident local following, I expect to be seeing a lot more of Amourette soon.

Damp Matches followed, another local group who are on the rise. Front woman Helena explained that the group had been rehearsing all day to record their latest project but, despite their long day, the group still gave everything they had to fill the space in the venue. This was done quite literally by Helena, who often weaved in and out of the crowd, with one audience member twirling her around as she sung. This level of interactivity is a testament to the space created by Voodoo Daddies; not only is the stage low rising, but the carpeted space with its armchairs along the sides create the feel of inviting your favourite local bands into your living room to play a set.

The band’s drummer Lee stood out in particular, with heavier, more stylised rhythms in the first few songs than I was anticipating. The group’s riffs and stylish vocals accompanied by these harsher rhythms create distinctive yet inviting anthems that got heads nodding. But once vocalist Helena and bassist Will swapped positions, the band ascended into infectious trash rock. Blending punkier, spoken word lyrics, Will formed a miniature wall of death in the small venue with fan favourite ‘Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’’, a Tom Cruise diss track that encouraged the moshing that Helena had been slowly drawing out of the crowd leading up until this point. Leaving us sweating, Damp Matches oozed charisma, clearly seasoned on the Norwich circuit, and encouraged us to enjoy Plasticine’s upcoming set.

Dressed for the part, trendy quartet Plasticine took to the stage under ethereal blue light, setting a softer, yet equally mesmerising tone as their predecessors. Immediately, it was evident the Scottish group had a slight fight on their hands for the crowd’s engagement; consisting of loyal locals predominantly supporting Norwich’s own Amourette and Damp Matches, Plasticine had to prove themselves a worthy headliner, which they did with ease, but you could tell that it dampened their spirits ever so slightly. Upon playing a new song live, singer Summer Skye joked that she thought the band were doing poorly, honestly admitting that ‘you know how it is, you’re your own worst critic!’ However, this self-aware performance arguably added a layer of sincerity and depth to their performance that can only strenthen their appeal on the first night of the tour.

I was very excited to see the group’s cover of ‘Pure Imagination’, from Gene Wilder’s ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’, a version that I found hauntingly beautiful on first listen. When Summer first announced the song and began to sing, the room joined in, then slowly each audience member dropped their part, stunned into silence by Summer’s performance. Having this song so early on in the set undoubtedly works in the band’s favour, with its familiarity alongside astonishing vocal delivery helping draw the crowd onside for the rest of the set. Then came an incredible switch-up, blending into an unreleased song called ‘STD’. This crude, flippant track brought a laugh to my lips as it was so unexpected, but in the best way possible, and piggybacked off the punk undertones of the two previous acts, which went down a treat with the crowd.

Best of all, this song didn’t feel hugely out of line with their discography. Plasticine have cemented themselves in an eclectic overlap of glittery guitar music with grungier influences that align with angstier, self-confident lyricism, all while curating infectious melodies worthy of indie pop status. While their recorded music has a richness to its guitar rhthyms, the ease at which these tracks translate acoustically once again is a testament to the group’s versatility. Rounding off the night with their classic ‘DO BAD BOYS GO TO HEAVEN’, Summer’s delivery of the lyrics ‘you took my inner woman’ were hard hitting, dripping with emotion until the very last chord of the set. After their recent plays on BBC Introducing Scotland and the great reception they received in Norwich, I’m sure that Plasticine are going to have great success on the rest of their tour.