Plushgun

Trying to get a Plushgun song out of your head would take a level of focus and concentration most people just don't have; or a jackhammer. With an array of shimmering keyboard melodies, hook-driven pop sensibility and a voice so pristine and emotional you'll laugh and cry at his command, founder Daniel Ingala excels at crafting tunes that dance out of the speakers and float straight into the soul on this surprisingly intimate collection of lush electro-pop.

Beneath the instantly accessible surface of "How We Roll" and "Just Impolite" lays a level of depth and intelligently genuine songwriting that proves Plushgun is more than just your average bunch of tunesmiths. An ethereal air of '80s New Wave blows over "Dancing In A Minefield" and "A Crush To Pass The Time," then carries over to the introverted "The Dark In You." Midway through the disc, the bright and cheery atmosphere is already drilled into your skull, but Ingala takes it a step further by busting out his banjo for the mushy sing-along "Let Me Kiss You (And I'll Fade Away)." Adding a much-needed sense of emotive realism to the mix, Pins & Panzers ends with its two biggest and most bittersweet compositions. The layered and pulsating "Without A Light" shows an edgier side to the band before seamlessly transitioning into "An Aria," which closes out the album on somber, yet triumphant note. Through everything, the disc's exuberant aesthetic is never lost.

Should Pins & Panzers serve to usher in a new era of indie-pop, then I'd say the genre is in great shape. Plushgun is the perfect band to show the tweener set that music can be catchy as all get out, without being completely watered-down and mindless. For everyone else, they're a new guilty pleasure.

–Ryan Ogle
01.09.09

Some folks have an intense disdain for nostalgia; they believe that musicians should always be forging ahead and trying to innovate. But that attitude is both silly and unrealistic; not everyone can reinvent himself constantly like David Bowie or the late Miles Davis. Inevitably, some musicians will be smitten with the music of a previous era and want to celebrate that era. The truth is that there's nothing wrong with nostalgia as long as it is well done--and Plushgun founder/singer Dan Ingala serves up a thoroughly likable dose of 1980s nostalgia on Pins & Panzers. This early 2009 release isn't an exact replica of the 1980s; Ingala has 1990s and 2000s influences as well, including the Postal Service. But there is no overlooking the fact that Ingala's synthesizer-driven pop/rock has been greatly influenced by 1980s new wave and synth pop. The New York City resident clearly has a major soft spot for a time when the Talking Heads, the Pet Shop Boys, OMD, Berlin, and the Human League reigned supreme on MTV. Ingala no doubt appreciates the fact that a lot of 1980s music was relentlessly hooky and infectious, and infectiousness is exactly what he achieves on bouncy tracks like "Dancing in a Minefield" and "Union Pool." Ingala has a healthy sense of humor; his lyrics can be clever, although he doesn't pour on the irony to degree that Freezepop do (Freezepop, a delightfully quirky retro-'80s group from Boston, could be called "the Spinal Tap of synth pop"). And Ingala's lyrics are highly introspective, whereas Freezepop (who are very much a parody of the 1980s) thrive on flat-out goofiness. Humor, introspection, and vulnerability are all important parts of the picture on Pins & Panzers, which won't appeal to rigid anti-nostalgia zealots but is nonetheless a consistently enjoyable and well-crafted effort from Plushgun. ~ Alex Henderson, All Music Guide