THE RECORD CABINET

The Review

A friend who collected Japanese electronics put “Plastic Love” on while we were repairing a cassette deck. Neither of us spoke enough Japanese to explain the lyric, but the combination of confidence and loneliness came through immediately. I asked him to write the artist’s name on a scrap of paper and carried it around until I found Variety in an import shop in Sydney. The record is smoother than most of the rock on my shelf, yet the bass, brass, and careful vocal arrangements give it real weight. “Plastic Love” is the obvious favourite, especially when the chorus opens up, though the album works best when played as an evening rather than a set of separate demonstrations. Occasionally the production is almost too immaculate for my taste, but that restraint is also its character. The Japanese lyric sheet remains tucked inside, full of information I cannot read and evidence of a world larger than local radio.