Plasticland -Euphoric Trapdoor Shoes // Rat-Tail Comb (Scadilac) 1983. Chris over at the great Psychedelicatessenn said it best when he mentioned that the A-Side (or is it the B-Side?) of this single is “like a commercial for shoes that will BLOW YOUR MIND”. He’s right too. There are many different types of shoes for many different types of situations but Euphoric Trapdoor Shoes are some genuine good news or at least that is the pitch vocalist/guitarist/organist/lyricist Glenn Rehse is throwing at you. And like a lot of Plasticland songs, Euphoric Trapdoor Shoes presents you with a pop-art product that is guaranteed to open your mind up to new dimensions of lysergic experience and sound. Try getting that from a pair of Sperry’s. Doc Martens just agitate. Now once you have sufficiently accomplished nirvana in your new shoes, flip this little platter over and count every strand of hair on your head with your Rat-Tail Comb; an equally amazing song by an amazing band that sadly got absolutely nowheresville in the 1980s. Now, I’ll be a poseur and admit that I first heard them on the great Enigma Variations comp released back in 1985 and due to the picture of the band and the lysergic sounds contained within the grooves, I assumed that the band were part of the LA Paisley Underground scene that was winding down in LA with bands like The Bangles, The Rain Parade and The Three O’Clock. I was wrong. Plasticland were from Wisconsin. Milwaukee, to be exact. In fact, their origins dated all the way back to 1980, including a brief moment when Brian Ritchie of the Violent Femmes was in the band. So they were not latecomers in any sense but instead they were geographically disadvantaged. Plasticland really hit their stride in 1983 with this single and two subsequent full-length releases that capture the essence of the Paisley Underground moment better than just about anything else I can think of. Plasticland added an element of punk rock attitude to their psychedelia by way of both Rehse’s snyde vocal delivery and the great compressed yet distorted guitar sound they managed to get on their releases. So yeah, the greatest Paisley Underground band of the 1980′s was not from California but instead Wisconsin. Consider your mind blown twice.
Hardcore Podcasts
September of 2010 I put together eight Hardcore Podcasts. You can check them out here if you are interested. For more insight into how I came up with the years 78-90 for the First Wave you can read about The Hardcore Superiorty Myth.
Never thought “Enigma Variations” was all that great– shit, I think it used to be a dollar bin item even when it first came out– and I despised the whole Paisley Underground thing, but I’ll take you guys’ word for it (you and Pig State Recon) and check these songs out.
Good somebody else remembers em. But me I must prefer their other shoe cut, “No Shine For The Shoes”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6t5iCGaZKM
Non-Stop Kitchen is my favorite jam by the Plasticland dudes.
No offense, but I listened to the two songs and this Paisley shit is still a bunch of crap!
They have a sharper edge than any of the Paisley Underground bands. Aside from “Euphoric Trapdoor Shoes,” my favorite is “The Garden in Pain.” I think Butthole Surfers ripped the beat off of that one for the second track on Hairway to Steven, but their song isn’t as good as Plasticland’s.
I love the title of this single, “Top Secret Man.” Sounds like a poorly-translated Japanese James Bond ripoff movie. In fact, it probably is if I bothered to look it up.
@Dave – You gotta smoke a doob and expand your horizons, baby. This is music you can smell with your ears and hear with your eyes!
Not gunna work!
I love Plasticland’s early releases! great blog… Thank you!