Plastiscines

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Plastiscines
Plastiscines performing at the Mod Club Theatre in Toronto in 2009.
Plastiscines performing at the Mod Club Theatre in Toronto in 2009.
Background information
OriginSaint-Cyr-l'École, France
Genres
Years active2004–present
LabelsVirgin France
MembersKatty Besnard
Louise Basilien
Anoushka "Ana" Vandevyvere
Past membersMarine Neuilly
Zazie Tavitian
Caroline
Websitelesplastiscines.com

The Plastiscines are a French all-female rock band who perform their songs in both French and English. They have released three albums, spanning from garage rock revival and pop punk to disco-orientered pop music.

History[edit]

The Plastiscines are Katty Besnard (singer/guitar), Louise Basilien (bass), and Ana Vandevyvere (drums). Former members include Marine Neuilly (guitar), and Caroline and Zazie Tavitian (both drums). They formed in 2007 after Besnard, Neuilly, and Tavitian, all of whom were at school together in Saint-Cyr-l'École, met Basilien, originally a harpist, at a concert by the English band, The Libertines.[1] Their talent was recognised early on by Maxime Schmitt, producer of the German band Kraftwerk, and they were signed by EMI for the Virgin France label in October 2006. In addition to the Libertines, the band's influences include the White Stripes, the Strokes[2] and, from an earlier generation, the Kinks and Blondie.[3] Closer to home, the prevailing style of their first album, LP1, was similar to that of the 1960s' singer Christie Laume, Édith Piaf's sister-in-law.[4]

The Plastiscines' name derives from the phrase, "plasticine porters with looking glass ties" in the Beatles' song, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", on the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The Plastiscines have been critical of French retailing of rock music. Louise Basilien has remarked that she learned about rock 'n' roll through her parents, the Internet, and by reading books: "the generation before us could not learn about rock 'n' roll because the stores here were rubbish".[2] As a consequence, the French rock scene in 2006–07 was seen by many as fresh and exciting, even though the requirement that forty per cent of songs broadcast on radio in France should be in French continued to militate against bands who wished to perform in English (which, because of its American origins and British dominance in the 1960s, has always been the prime language of rock 'n' roll).

In 2009, Marvin Scott Jarrett, Editor-in-chief of NYLON magazine, founded NYLON Records and signed the Plastiscines as its first act, after seeing them on the cover of French fashion and style magazine Citizen K.[5] The Plastiscines were featured on the TV series Gossip Girl episode "They Shoot Humphreys, Don't They?" at the Cotillion ball. Their song "Bitch" was also featured on the same episode.[6] The music supervisor on Gossip Girl, Alex Patsavas, noticed the Plastiscines' record, and has written several of the band's songs into the series.[7] Their single, "Barcelona" was iTunes single of the week during the first week of January 2010.

In February 2010, they embarked on the 'Hot Mess Across The EU-niverse Tour' in support of Cobra Starship, along with Family Force 5.[citation needed]

In December 2010, it was announced that they would be producing the music for the comic book-based, animated TV show titled Scary Larry.[8] Marine Neuilly left the band. They are featured on the song "Nearly Witches (Ever Since We Met...)" by Panic! at the Disco on their third album, Vices & Virtues. They are also featured on the song "Fool Like Me" by Cobra Starship on their fourth and final album, Night Shades.[citation needed]

"Les bébés rockers"[edit]

In the mid-2000s (decade), the Plastiscines were one of several Parisian teenage bands, referred to collectively as les bébés rockers. Paris Calling, a compilation album of music by several of them, was released in France in June 2006 (and in Britain in 2007). It contained the Plastiscines' first studio tracks, "Shake (Twist Around the Fire)" and "Rake". Those present at its launch included the French Minister of Culture, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, and Babyshambles singer Pete Doherty.[2]

Such bands tended to be scorned at the time by some elements of the press for their bobo (bourgeois bohème or bourgeois Bohemian) backgrounds:[2] in other words, they were portrayed as "the spoilt kids of rich parents playing at being rock stars".[2]

Band members[edit]

  • Katty Besnard - vocals, guitar (2006–present)
  • Louise Basilien - bass (2006–present)
  • Anaïs Vandevyvere - drums, backing vocals (2008–present)
Secondary members
  • Laurie Mammoliti - synthesizer and guitar
  • Lucie Petre - guitar
Previous members
  • Zazie Tavitian - drums (2006-2008)
  • Caroline Leblon - drums
  • Siam Kamli - drums
  • Marine Neuilly - guitar (2006-2011)

Releases[edit]

The band's first album, LP1, was issued on 12 February 2007. This was an eclectic mix of twelve notably short tracks (none was over three minutes long and some were under two), including their first single release, "Loser", and the two songs that had appeared on Paris Calling.

The band's second album, About Love, was released on 21 June 2009 by NYLON Records. A three song EP was made available on 21 April 2009 and contained three songs from the album: "Barcelona", "You're No Good" and "I Could Rob You".

In April 2013, the Plastiscines released "Coming To Get You", the first preview of their new album Back to the Start set for release in 2014. Two other songs from the album, "Ooh La La" and "Comment Faire", were released in May 2013. Back to the Start was released in full 28 April 2014.[9] This album was different from their prior releases as the Plastiscines dropped their rock sound and opted for a more electronic and pop sound.[9]

In popular culture[edit]

  • Hideaway is the title song of Disney's French television series Mère et Fille.
  • The Plastiscines performed in Gossip Girl Season 3 Episode 9.
  • Season 5 episode 5 of True Blood featured their song, Bitch.
  • Gran Turismo 5 features their song, Pas avec toi.

Discography[edit]

Albums[edit]

Year Album Peak positions
FR
[10]
2007 LP1 61
2009 About Love 138
2014 Back to the Start 171

EPs[edit]

  • 2014: Black XS by Plastiscines EP

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ Kate Mosh in November 2004. Feedburner.com.
  2. ^ a b c d e Spicer, Kate (2007-03-25). "Here come the bébés rockers". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 2007-06-09.
  3. ^ "Les Plastiscines - Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos". Myspace.
  4. ^ For example, Laume's "Agatha ou Christie" (Odéon, 1967): cf. the Plastiscines' "Zazie fait de la bicyclette".
  5. ^ Mathieu, Gaétan (September 16, 2009). "Le pari américain des Plastiscines". France-Amerique.com. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved October 13, 2010.
  6. ^ Cripps, Charlotte (October 23, 2009). "Plastiscines - Zut alors! Bébé rock est arrivé!". independent.co.uk. The Independent.
  7. ^ Savage, Mark (February 23, 2010). "Moulding music with The Plastiscines". BBC.co.uk.
  8. ^ "Et si vous investissiez dans un "cartoon" pour réduire vos impôts?" {"And if you invest in a "cartoon" to reduce your taxes?"}. FiscalOnline.com, Paris, December 6, 2010. (English tr.)
  9. ^ a b "Plastiscines : "Back to the Start", écoutez leur nouvel album en exclusivité". chartsinfrance.net.
  10. ^ "Plastiscines discography". lescharts.com. Hung Medien. Retrieved 9 May 2014.

External links[edit]

Media related to Les Plastiscines at Wikimedia Commons

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