From the dark underbelly of Fortaleza, Brazil, comes one of the city’s best kept secrets, Plastique Noir. Their debut album "Dead Pop" is an eclectic blend of tribal gothic rock, gloomy post-punk, kinetic deathrock, and a minimal dosage of both synths and subtle sampling. Though the band successfully fills the first three quarters of the album with some dynamic and gripping music, the final quarter is unfortunately too vanilla a flavor for this reviewer's taste.

The hushed post-punk track "Inconsistency" a good introduction, but Dead Pop jumps to life with the following track "Imaginary Walls." Here the production is cleaner: Márcio Mäzela's intricate guitar work, Danyel A.'s rich bass, Max Bernardo's synths, and Airton S.'s brooding vocals all shine. In the third track "Phantom in My Stereo" theres a shift in tone to something darker and more aggressive, with its buzzing synths, thunderous drumming, and thicker-than-molasses bass riffs. However in "IML" the music simply explodes in the listener's face with raw, dark-punk aggression and a catchy chorus that will get any crowd pogoing in a matter of seconds. "IML" is also the most fractured track the album as toward its end the music is assaulted by a barrage from what could be described as a seizuring piano.

Dead Pop continues skillfully shifting styles in tracks like "Creep Show", "Desire or Disease", and "Shadow Run". The album will also be a welcomed addition to any DJ's collection as it offers several dance-floor worthy tracks. This is most evident in the album's crown jewel "Those Who Walk by the Night". On the opposite side of the spectrum, the beautiful, ethereal instrumental "Nihil" is neither boring nor pointless. The album does stagnate with its final four tracks though. Down tempo post-punk songs currently are not Plastique Noir's strong point since the music rather than dreary, and fails to wrench the listener emotionally. Another minor qualm is that though some lyrics do tell intriguing stories, the writing itself could be stronger. However it must be noted that this reviewer has never before heard a band successfully use 'cenobytes' in a song. Over all Dead Pop is still a fantastic debut album that warrants an enthusiastic recommendation. Keep an eye on this band.