REVIEWS

Reviews for new album Keep it burning:

“The Plastic Pals do make pop music, but not the sort that today’s kids would understand. It is full of cool, low-slung guitars, it is both infectious and full of groove, driven and deftly done, the perfect blend of melody and muscle and if there is sense of rock music to be found within their music, it is rock and roll (full of swing and swagger, attitude and groove) rather than rock proper (as made by bearded men in big shorts earnesty digging away at their craft) that is at work."
The Big Takeover

“‘The Hawk Moth’ stands as the album's most pointed moment, skewering our contemporary plague of misinformation with the kind of dry sarcasm that only comes from observing the circus for too long. The reference to ‘fake news clowns’ might date the song for some listeners, but the underlying anxiety—about certainty, about truth, about who to trust—feels depressingly evergreen. Musically, it rocks with the kind of swagger Mott The Hoople made their calling card, all strutting rhythm and defiant guitars.”
Indie Dock Music Blog

“The Plastic Pals return with Keep it Burning, an album that feels like a transmission from a parallell era where music still breathes, grooves, and speaks directly without filters.” “Across the album, the biggest strength is authenticity. While many modern releases lean towards quantizied perfection and digital gloss, The Plastic Pals choose warmth, minor imperfections, and emotional connection. That choice makes the project feel alive. It invites the listeners to stop scrolling, sit still, and simply listen.”
Edgar Allan Poets

“‘Lost In Translation’ is the best rock song on the album, at least if you ask me. Another wonderful song is the album's only instrumental track, the odd ‘The Social Loner’ with its repetitive twang guitar in focus, which I just love. The CD cover includes a booklet with all the lyrics and a lot of information, which makes it easier to follow Soold's lyrical world. I think Keep It Burning is just as good as their third album, the masterful Psychic Reader from 2018, and you couldn't have wished for anything better.”
9/10 in Zero Magazine (in Swedish)

“Twenty years into their tenure, The Plastic Pals have returned with  'Keep it Burning', a record that feels less like a studio product and more like finding a pristine, forgotten leather jacket in a thrift store scuffed, smelling faintly of clove cigarettes, and fitting perfectly. Hailing from Stockholm, this group has managed a strange bit of sonic teleportation. They are Swedish, yes, but the air displacing through their amplifiers carries the grimy, humid oxygen of 1970s New York City.”
Music Arena GH

“The Plastic Pals Ignite Momentum And Meaning With The Electrifying Punch Of 'Keep it Burning'…” “Keep it Burning announces itself right away as a body of work worth sitting with from start to finish, and the the track we landed on first was ‘The Hawk Moth’, and it wastes no time setting the tone. It bursts forward with exhilarating momentum, bright and resonant guitars lighting up the speakers while blazing drums push everything into overdrive. The bass comes in thick and rhythmic, anchoring the track with a groove that pulls you deeper into the experience, and when the vocals arrive, there is an undeniable sense of camaraderie that elevates the entire song. The delivery is bold and energized, and as the intricate drum fills and rolling solos take shape, the track becomes a reminder of how alive rock music can sound when it is played with conviction. The lyrical bite lands hard, especially with lines like: ‘Who needs humor when we got these fake news clowns’ and that fearless commentary locks the band into a lineage of artists who speak their minds without hesitation.”
Cage Riot

“The Plastic Pals on 'Keep it Burning' or how Stockholm reignites the flame of rock.” “‘Keep it Burning' by the Plastic Pals sounds like a lighter being struck in the wind, a stubborn gesture, almost derisory, but vital.”
Extravafrench (in French)

“Get To The Point the time for nostalgia is over, no matter how many songs they quote in this song, you need to look forwards not backwards if you want to Get To The Point. Keep it Burning keep on chasing your dreams, otherwise they will never become reality, how does it feel to keep searching, playing all over the world, this is full of memories of a US Tour, this would be the lighters in the air moment, although Phone Lights in the air is the safer option, while swaying to the Crazy Horse guitar solo.”
8/10 on Whisperin and Hollerin

“Even better are The Plastic Pals when it comes to fast and focused power pop, such as the sludgy, tight The Hawk Moth with its beautiful harmonies about the madness in the White House, and most of all in the perhaps somewhat contradictory, anti-nostalgic Get to the Point.”
4/6 on Fokus Musik (in Swedish)
 

Reviews for album Psychic Reader:

“The Plastic Pals give the discerning listener a full slate of tunes from the sublime to uptempo on this 3rd LP that will keep you coming back for more. Quite a few tracks standout and could make it to mass appeal radio and Internet outlets. This CD drops on November2, 2018….Give it some love! This CD is a MUST LISTEN! On my Storm Scale, I give this a rousing FORCE 5! WELL DONE!” (Michael McKenna, McKenna Reviews, Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA).
McKennaReviews

“The group has always had a faiblesse for Paisley Underground and old fans will not be disappointed. New fans will certainly join. At least if they get to hear Connecting, a laid-back funk tune with spoken words kind of vocals that takes you back to a run-down street corner in the Bronx in the 70s”. (Robert Ryttman, Zero Magazine, Sweden: 9/10).
Zero Magazine (in Swedish)

“With The Plastic Pals you go back to the music of the 1980s, where “dry” rock impressed, which still inspires many. ‘Psychic Reader’ is not only for musical psychics, but in the first place for rock enthusiasts with a broad taste for what is good.“ (Rootstime, Belgium).

REWIEWS on ALBUM GOOD KARMA CAFé:

“If you heard one of these cuts on the radio then whichever one it was, you’d want to know who it was. Those guitars are utterly infectious as they jangle and pummel, sometimes simultaneously. If what goes around does indeed come around then their music will take them far.” (Lindsay Hutton, The Next Big Thing)
The Next Big Thing

“…the song ‘Good Karma Cafe’ – when taken on its’ own – is enough to sell you something of a dummy where The Plastic Pals are concerned. It’s a gorgeously wistful, Americana-tinged affair with plenty of space for guest Jason Shogren’s regal pedal steel to waft around and some notably lonesome Neil Young-style harmonica.”

“The other thing that really sets The Plastic apart is Soold’s skill as a lyricist. Occasionally, he conjures up a neo-psychedelic mysticism, as on ‘Gone With The Wind’ (“a sea burst through the park and a clipper made the scene/ it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen”) which recalls the cosmic oddness of The Ramones’ ‘Highest Trails Above’, but mostly his observations whether personal (‘Best Kept’s Secret”s vivid and hearbreaking observations of death) or political (the darkly topical ‘Suicide Bomber’) are both effective and memorable. And when they’re allied to The Pals’ magnificent sonic fire power they’re clearly onto a winner.”  (Tim Peacock, Whisperin and Hollerin)
Reviewers rating: 9/10
Whisperin and Hollerin

“Opener Here Comes the Sun is a perfect example of their ability to produce vibrant and visceral songs which tap straight into rock’s collective unconscious.” “…leads on songs such as The Best Kept Secret or Long and Lonely are a glorious combination of wiry and melodic, often recalling the work of Chuck Prophet.” (Kai Roberts, Americana UK)
Reviewers rating: 8/10

“If Håkan Soold had been Englishman or American, he would have belonged to a chosen group of internationally recognised, but very modestly selling cult heroes. With his high quality and partially psychedelic rock, his limber guitar strands almost at the level of Tom Verlaine, and his habile voice quite close to Ian McNabb (consider that a recommendation!), he should be sorted with just that kind of artists, together with Richard Lloyd, Chris Spedding and Matthew Sweet. His background in the classic band Dom Dummaste, whose Lars Cleveman makes a guest performance here, would have contributed to the cult, while guests like Green On Red’s Chris Cacavas would have been a little something for all the experts.
However, Håkan Soold and his Plastic Pals aren’t Englishmen or Americans, but Swedish, and that makes the cult almost negligibly small. Still, whoever find The Plastic Pals in some way, should be congratulated! ” (Patrik Forshage, Nöjesguiden)
Nöjesguiden (in Swedish)

“Hailing from Stockholm, The Plastic Pals debut long player is a powerhouse of guitar-drenched power-pop. featuring stellar guest Chris Cacavas (Green on Red) on organ and taking cues from the likes of the Flamin Groovies, Dream Syndicate and Gun Club, this is soulful, driving music, with as much melody as muscle.” (Rough Trade)

“We loved their EP! Their debut long player delivers on the EP’s promise /…/ Shadow Of A Dream” has a guitar riff that reminds us of Buffalo Springfield’s “Rock and Roll Woman”! “Suicide Bomber” has a kind of early Teardrop Explodes feel to it! EXCELLENT!!!” (Kool Kat Music)
Kool Kat Music

“A couple of months ago The Plastic Pals released their debut album “Good Karma Café”. A solid, exciting rock and powerpop album with a collection of strong tracks with The Plastic Pals’ own special sound. It feels like great retro mixture molded into something new. I get so many associations to this that I find it hard to tell them apart into some kind of description.
Sixties pop, psychadelia, Blue Öyster Cult, Television, and yes it feels clean and rough at the same time. I really love the vocals from Håkan Soold, which adds a lot of soul to the music and keeps everything together. A really good album that grows each time I listen to it.”
(Pär Berglund, Meadow Music)