BIO

Over three years in the making, The Plains have finally completed their much anticipated sophomore effort, The Boy in the Mansuit. This album finds them in more adventurous territory than their critically acclaimed debut, often leaving traditional song structure behind and opting instead to follow the lead of Semer’s increasingly eccentric and cynical lyrics. Thematically, the album deals with growing into adulthood in a world controlled by overgrown children, and attempting to find love, honor, truth, and loyalty in the midst of this chaos. "Deep beneath our ribs and lungs, there’s a beating heart that controls our tongues," Semer sings in The Heart is Stupid but the Heart is True, a song that lampoons traditional religion and relationships while championing the power of the heart.

Since forming the band over four years ago, Aaron Semer, Jonathan Kilian, and Joshua Atkins have not only grown as musicians, but become best friends. In addition to their musical bond, The Plains have gone through their mid-20s together, witnesses in one another’s lives to marriage, relationships, mental break-downs, touring, family members sent to war, and death. Furthering their friendship, all three are social workers, and their passionate humanism is felt throughout the album without becoming preachy or clichéd. Their lack of line-up changes have given them the confidence and focus to eschew the trappings of genre, working in a variety of musical styles that somehow always sound like The Plains.

While their debut album was almost entirely performed by Semer, The Boy in the Mansuit is a collaborative effort. It is also a primarily home-recorded effort. Half of the basic tracks were recorded by John Randolph (The Cops, Kinski) in his living room. The rest was recorded by Semer in The Plains’ practice space. The album was mixed at Seattle’s Red Room by Ben Verellen (Roy, Mastodon).