Social Klash

Well, we're at a point now where indie rock comes in many guises and with a lot of unexpected musical influences. Nothing wrong with a little diversity, right? Local Miami musicians Social Klash throw every sonic inspiration they can think of into the music blender on their debut album, Plastic Love, and they frappé it all with some danceable tunes. It doesn't take long to hear this band's Latin American background controlling the pace of the album. There's a number of Soda Stereo-/Sentimiento Muerto-/Enanitos Verdes-inspired tunes here like "Luna," "Amor Electrico," and "No Somos Dos." Even though these songs are full of Spanish-language new wave, nothing stops them from mixing it up with some electroclash and synth-pop sensibilities. There's even a little saccharine bliss halfway through with "Super Niño" in the manner of a simple riff over some inspired beats and loops with call-and-response vocal harmonization. And they can tear it up like a bunch of good punkers on "So Short Married," in which elements of garage can be heard as well. As for personnel, Mars Polem handles the guitars and bass on this recording while guiding the vocals with a Bono-meets-Ian Curtis inflection. Andres Mara does the computer work and bops along on the keys, while Abraham Salas does a solid job on the drums by keeping the metronome and by dazzling with minimalism when appropriate. With that many influences welded together, Plastic Love comes across as a solid first effort.