Plastic Bastard

Darkly enticing, like a back alley in the warehouse district after midnight, Plastic Bastard’s debut album is full of catchy hooks and tales of life gone awry. This Regina trio traffics in crunchy three-chord guitar, raspy vocals, and dour narratives, recalling the dirt bag dons of early punk like the Dead Boys. The songs themselves, like "Far From Lonely,” "Lowdown” and "Argyle Park” exhibit a pathos whose richness only grows when you learn that front-man Marlin Marynick day jobs as a psychiatric nurse. Whether or not the scenarios that play out in Plastic Bastard’s songs are inspired by Marynick’s work life or whether they’re merely the product of his imagination becomes a moot point though, compared to the instant gratification of "Demon,” a near-perfect minute-and-a-half of dirty guitar rock.