09.28.06 -  Americana-UK.com. Liverpool, UK
By, PETE GOW

The Plains "The Boy in the Mansuit" (Independent 2006)

It was less about love and more about a bet – cynical bastard

Seattle based, The Plains, once simply a nom de guerre for the twisted vision of song writer Aaron Semer, have developed stylistically since 2002’s ‘On Earth As It Is In Heaven’, whilst losing none of the rage and angst in Semer’s bleached out view on the society that shaped him.

Recorded pretty much live as you hear it, Semer has expanded The Plains to include permanent rhythm section Jonathon Kilian and Joshua Atkins. This is clear on first listen, where much like Nirvana’s In Utero, you are aware that you are hearing the early takes of songs worked by a tight, rehearsed and focused unit.

Semer’s writing style is mature and articulate, but his lyrics themselves can be pretty non-linear, think Kevin Coyne sharing scribbling duties with Willy Vlautin.

The Plains have achieved in ‘The Boy in the Mansuit’ (as typical a Semer turn of phrase as contained in any of the songs) a tough, visceral Americana album with wit, anger, fear and outright hatred – a mix that will do it for me every time. PG