The Plurals – The Plurals Today, The Plurals Tomorrow: A Futurospective

Despite the very monochromatic album plastered upon The Plurals’ satirically titled The Plurals Today, The Plurals Tomorrow: A Futurospective, the group’s spastic sense of oddball humour makes for a very colourful experience.  Coated in varying degrees of garage fuzz, pummeled by crash-tastic drumming and a whack load of we-don’t-give-a-damn vocals, The Plurals are like those slightly off-kilter cousins that make cameos exclusively at family reunions.  And just like those relatives, it can take some time to warm up to their antics.  But once you loosen up to their company you can’t wait for them to pull up a chair.

The band opens with a spastic display of on the edge vocals and bouncy, pseudo-melodic garage clamor.  Those favouring the shelter of structure will find no forgiveness here, instead heeding the loose-hinged greeting of Miniboone-like wails and hyperactive energy framing the aptly titled “La La La.”  In a moment Tommy Plural’s short attention span shifts from controlled conversation to unhinged lunatic.  The Plurals keep listeners guessing a track later on “Life’s A Mess” when another band member steps up to the mic and offers an altogether gruffer sound.  Somewhere between Boston hardcore and Florida style garage punk, the persona matches their dynamic experimentalism. “Crush” crashes in with yet another vocal onslaught, and “Run” throws a wrench in the machine with borderline cute female vocals circaLemuria.  That it takes Futurospective’s entire first half to explore all their vocal variations ensure The Plurals keep listeners on their toes.

The band also has some significant instrumental bite beyond their vocal focus.  For instance, tracks like “Free Burd” range from preppy indie static to belted babbling showcase – infusing a dose of emotionalism in their every word.  “Squagel’s” happy-go-lucky bounce and sobering lyrical realism reveal a sense of maturity echoed in the delicate female lead of minimalist slow crawler “Brain.”

Futurospective can be summed up with the humour framing album closer “Happy Songs.”  The song serves as a humorous rant between the band and critics, including inebriated admissions that they can’t put a song together without a pint, and that naysayers “don’t understand how hard it is to sing these songs, about my life, put them together, spend hours in the studio, singing, talking, trying to convey they human experience, trying to make you understand, being clever and witty and fun all at the same time.”  Coupled with appropriately sloppy guitar chords, these words perfectly capture the essence of why you’ll stand to enjoy The Plurals quirky brand of tongue-in-cheek humour, even if you typically distance yourself from the whole garage thing.  Well worth a look.