I saw The Hives before they were famous. At a long-missed place in the Black Country called J.B’s. They were opening for someone – a Wildhearts offshoot probably – and marched out on stage with the words: “We are The Hives from Sweden, we are your new favourite band.”
I sat there, arms folded, thinking: “I’ll be the judge of that, thank you!” I left with a CD and a t-shirt.
There’s a bit of that going on with Plaiins. Not least because they have the same annoyingly/insanely catchy (delete as appropriate) choruses, but also because they have a quirky air about them.
A German band fronted by an Englishman, their debut album starts with its title track, and asks that we “get wild and naked”.
Let’s at least have a drink first, Chris.
Somewhere in the Venn diagram where Idles meets strutting rock ‘n’ roll, you’ll find these four.
Try resisting “Dirty Fish”. You probably won’t. Quite simply, it’s bonkers, and the half-spoken style works. It really does. Not a million miles from Dinosaur Pile-Up, it’s an absolute beauty.
Since forming in 2020, they’ve racked up more than 20 singles and evidently only decided to stick an album out when they were happy.
It’s worth it.
They’ve plenty to say, too. “Be More Animal” worms its way in and won’t leave, as well as discussing the bewildered nature of the cynicism of the modern world.
David Suhlrie on drums clearly enjoyed himself on “Hotel Biscuits”, and you can only imagine how good these boys would be live.
“Amazon Warehouse” is for the dreamers, those that hate their day jobs – yet it’s a sugar rush, as if the silver lining is in the music itself. Some of these songs are genuinely funny. “Do One” is just that, even if they attempt to dumb it down with a simple “give them beats and something dancy”. There’s way more to it.
Whilst most of this is as bouncy as a six-year-old on a three-day Skittles bender, “Executive Me” slows the pace a touch, and “Beef Cake” is literally a three-minute pop song, albeit one with the bass of Timon Lanzinger to the fore.
“Sports Bar” might find itself out of place amongst the punters, but it is a fine example of what Plaiins do – they can find the angle anywhere. Only the best can do that.
A multi-national band, they excoriate nationalism on “Row, She Said” – doing so extremely cleverly. Together we will defeat the poisonous ideology of Farage and the likes. This sounds especially anthemic.
Having two guitar players – Reardon and Florian Kaninck – makes them occasionally heavier than you’d imagine. “C’est La Vie” is one such moment, but there’s such energy throughout. “Special K” sounds like an indie song from the late ’90s, at least until it doesn’t. And it is a window into a band that seems overflowing with ideas.
That even extends to the last one, “Four AM”, which has a bit of an unsettling air as Reardon takes on his whole building in the middle of the night, and the guitars screech us home with an unapologetic air and “a carrot in your ass”.
We’ll move on swiftly to the white noise that ends this, “04-05”, but also to a line in “…Vie”: “My confidence is key,” Reardon sings.
And he’s not joking. In the press pack that came with this, there’s a line that sticks out: “I have so much love, reverence and adoration for the greats and I wanted us to at least be on that level,” says the frontman. If “Happy Faces” is anything to go by, they’ll achieve that no trouble.
It’s as Plaiins as the nose on your face – this is your new favourite punk band, as someone almost said years ago.
Rating: 9/10
