Read to the End

pla | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 24, 2004)
• Original Release Date: August 24, 2004
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: timesuckage records
• ASIN: B0002VHQM2
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,562,688 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

Don't be fooled. Female-fronted pop/rock quartet plā may not seem like a band to be reckoned with at first, with their tongue-in-cheek name and an album with the sheen of today's popular music. And plā is quite proud to be pop-with songs as honest and passionate as they are undeniably catchy. Described as "Blondie meets modern pop," San Francisco-based plā (pronounced "play") fuses its guitar rock core with soul, punk, and power pop.

The real sleight-of-hand can be found in plā's debut album, Read to the End. On first listen, the guitar-driven melodic rock songs will hook you in with what might recall radio-friendly, fun, mainstream music. But beneath the glossy pop exterior lie themes of struggle, disappointment, and heartbreak. "As a band, the four of us share this sort of dichotomy," explains vocalist/guitarist/songwriter Sally Chou, "We're all drawn to the combination of upbeat hooks and quiet introspectiveness. It's a constant marriage of the two throughout album."

In Read to the End, plā showcases their genre-blending explorations such as the haunting blues of "I Wonder," the sultry, but retro "Making It Real," the funk/pop-anthem "Spaces," and the bare, honest piano ballad "Still." Produced by Buddy "Budz" Saleman, the album took shape around plā's strong pop-sensibilities and Saleman's progressive and album-oriented rock background. "A lot of it is very raw-especially the vocals," Chou reveals, 'And I resisted it at first, afraid of the exposure and being that vulnerable. But Buddy is amazing at finding truth in a song and showed us how important that is. We swallowed our fears and went for it." Perhaps they took their own advice from the opening rocker track "Let Go."