Nashville – New York born but Nashville grown, Clear Plastic Masks dove into a raucous set this past Wednesday night at the High Watt. With Andrew Katz on lead vocals and guitar, the band’s presence onstage was somehow both parts effortless and commanding—their attitude as distinctive as the high-energy rhythm that makes up their music. Both classic and contemporary, Clear Plastic Masks are a different spin on a steadfast genre.”
In 2011, each of the band’s four members found each other in New York and formed a swift kinship rooted in music. What began as a simple shared interest eventually grew into the Clear Plastic Masks of today, and the band sought to break out of the city to begin touring all over the country. This is where their Nashville story begins—on tour, they not only discovered a special connection to Music City, but they also started to see a future here.
Now, Clear Plastic Masks consider Nashville their home base amongst many other out-of-towners and similar inhabitants looking for a place to play, record, and build a network. Already three years into their residency here, the band has become situated but not settled as they continue to put out great work. “We live in Nashville most of the time,” Katz told us laughingly during his show Wednesday night, proving that anywhere can be home as long as the band is playing and composing.
But their music still preserves a good bit of their New York origins—it’s a razor’s edge sharpened by a particular brand of grit that’s inherent to living and working in the city. Combined with Nashville’s soul and history, the music of Clear Plastic Masks is not only reminiscent of traditional rock and roll—it’s transcendent. The rhythms and riffs might reflect a familiar rock and roll sound that’s persisted through the years, but the arrangement as a whole is something more. Reflected in their closer, “Dos Cobras,” this wordless song was brought together by a smooth keyboard and deep guitar.
The standout cut of the night, however, was “So Real.” Though the tempo slowed down for a few songs, Clear Plastic Masks managed to maintain a high-paced and high-energy beat throughout nearly the entire show. When they launched into “So Real,” everything reached an explosive point, and the guitars and vocals began to exceed the energy present during the first half of the show. In another display of elevated rock, the band punctuated the song with an extensive, boisterous, but also ethereal guitar solo that seemed to leave the song for a different place.
Clear Plastic Masks have completed their tour in order to prepare for an appearance at this year’s Bonnaroo festival in June, but plans for another tour and possibly a follow-up to their 2014 debut Being There are most likely in the works. And though they record out of Electric Lady studios in their native New York, Nashville will remain their transient home for now. There’s so much to love in the band’s sound, and so much to look forward to for the future, that it’s hard to stay patient in so much uncertainty. But, no matter where the rest of this year takes the band, great things are happening and we can’t wait to see what they’ll become.
For fans planning on going to Bonnaroo this year, be sure to catch Clear Plastic Masks on Friday, June 12. Check them out on Facebook for more updates and tour dates.
Amaryllis Lyle
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