NEW ALBUM “KEEP IT BURNING” WILL BE RELEASED 9 JANUARY, 2026.
“Tighter than Willy DeVille´s crocodile boots” (Anders Tapola, Swedish paper Smålandsposten)
“These guys rock, in the vanguard of what seems to be a paisley Viking invasion, still wielding axes but these days they are plugged in and making glorious noises” (Rob Ellen, The Medicine Show)
After a million years of free-floating in space from galaxy to galaxy, finally the last remaining batch of ”your plastic pal who´s fun to be with” has returned to the mothership and set up a permanent base in – of all places at this end of the Universe – Stockholm, Sweden. This outofthisworldish four-piece psychedelic garage rock combo The Plastic Pals was formed in Spring 2005. Guilty as charged is singer/songwriter/guitarist Hawk, aka Håkan Soold, who brought together Anders Sahlin (a guitarist who Hawk played with in the band Piglet in the 1980s) with Sweden´s answer to Sly&Robbie Olov Öqvist (drummer with Caroline Says/Cleveman Rössel Band and Wan Light) and Bengt Alm (bass player with Caroline Says/Cleveman Rössel Band and Wan Light). Take the fiery guitars of bands like Television, Flamin´ Groovies and The Dream Syndicate, add a pinch of Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground and a dash of magic melodies with a dark edge. Bring to the boil with a soulful and groovy base of drums and bass. Stir well and season to taste with the finest spices from the legacy of rock and roll – from Hank to Hendrix, from Gram to The Long Ryders, from The Beatles to Alex Chilton, from Townes to Paul K, from Coltrane to Television. The list goes on… Bon Appétit! There you have the taste and the sound of these guitar slingers from Stockholm, Sweden – The Plastic Pals. Bon Appetit!
The Plastic Pals released their debut album Good Karma Café in 2008. A somewhat americana-tinged affair, and yet still true to the twin guitar-paisley-garage-powerpop-New York rock aesthetics the band presented on their debut EP The Band That´s Fun To Be With (2006). Perhaps too rootsy to be called garage, too poppish to be called rootsy, too garage rocking to be called americana or alt-country. Be that as it may. The sound of The Plastic Pals continues to attract an increasing number of fans worldwide. A rootsy classic guitar-laden rock sound that takes you on a time machine through the decades from the 1940´s, ”draggin´ The Ghost of Tom Joad all the way into the present”, as one reviewer put it. With a style and sound that´s distinctively their own The Plastic Pals are nevertheless not at all ashamed of critics saying they´re taking their cues from bands and artists like Green on Red, The Godfathers, Blue Oyster Cult, Bruce Springsteen, Echo and The Bunnymen and Elvis Costello. The debut album Good Karma Café – with guest appearances by former Green on Red keyboard maestro Chris Cacavas – has received really good reviews, in Sweden as well as in the UK, The Netherlands, Belgium and Italy. Tunes from the album have received airplay and/or is receiving airplay in the USA (WFMU and WFNX), the UK (BBC6 and the House for Mercy show at Total Radio), Greece, Spain, Sweden, Germany, Holland, Belgium and France – with A-rotaion for 4 months on a radio station in Lyon. The Plastic Pals have been support band to ex Green on Red guitar slinger Chuck Prophet and Australian garage rock legends The New Christs – with Rob Younger from Radio Birdman and Jim Dickson from The Barracudas. In November 2009 they had the honour of supporting Steve Wynn, founder of The Dream Syndicate. In 2008 The Plastic Pals were invited to London by Gurbir “Another Cowboy” Dhillon (a passionate music aficionado who´s released albums with The Dream Syndicate and CBGB´s group Band of Outsiders in the 1980:s) and Nick West (editor of magazine Bucketfull of Brains) for a celebration of The Paisley Underground at the Windmill, Brixton. Gurbir found The Plastic Pals on MySpace, googling for The Long Ryders, The Dream Syndicate and Green on Red. Besides playing a regular Plastic Pals set, the Pals backed ex-Long Ryder Sid Griffin on a set of tunes by The Long Ryders, and then closed the night with a set of songs by The Only Ones, The Dream Syndicate, Green on Red, The Velvet Undergound and Danny&Dusty – with the whole venue singing along to the latter´s “Song for the dreamers”. So even if The Plastic Pals are serious about they´re thing, they can be your party band too if you like (and yes given the right offer (in cash, that is), do take gigs at private parties and business events). The Pals, after all, are The Band That´s Fun To Be With! That same weekend The Plastic Pals played two more London dates at The Hope&Anchor and 12 Bar Club. The band: Håkan “Hawk” Soold: vocals, guitar Olov Öqvist: drums Bengt Alm: bass, backup vocals Anders Sahlin: guitar. backup vocals http://www.theplasticpals.se Twin-guitar garage paisley powerpop from Stockholm, Sweden.
Second album, Turn The Tide (2013), was produced by Chris Cacavas (ex Green on Red and Giant Sand). Third album, Psychic Reader (2018) was self produced. 12" vinyl EP It Could Be So Easy Free And Fine (2020) was produced by Jörgen “Jugglo” Wall (producer of Weeping Willows and former drummer with Thåström).
Four singles have been released from new album, Keep it Burning (slated for relase 9 January, 2026): The Blue Train, Flames of Fate, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning and Get to the Point.