"If this band from Vicenza found a place in Italian rock history, it is mainly because of their [1983] debut [self-titled] mini-LP... duly presented here at the beginning of the tracklist. I hope the frontman Sergio Volpato will forgive me if I say that, despite the quality of the following releases, their mythical status (small as it may be) is owed to that first piece of vinyl originally released by LM Records and coproduced by Discotape, a record store in Marostica.
An enigmatic cover, a made-up name inspired by the original Plastic Host (a sort of subtle attack against Catholic religion), 23 minutes of music, a sequence of four songs opened by 'Canzone Dada' ('Dada Song'), a real anthem, with striking lyrics adapted from a 1923 text by Tristan Tzara. Even if the just mentioned 12" represents the core of the present CD, the rest of the program appears pretty interesting as well. 'Panorama' was recorded just a bit later for the Rockgarage Compilation Vol. 4 (the last of a series of [various artists] records produced by a Venetian fanzine) and re-released in 1987 on Evviva Evviva, an EP which started a new more pop-oriented era. The other 12 tracks never found their way to vinyl, while they made it on cassette tape, some of them sold with fanzines.
The whole of the 17 songs represents the complete studio works from the first period, when the band was more in tune with the post-punk attitude. We had the chance of adding a few alternate takes, but we chose only the best versions. Thirty-one years ago, while reviewing Plasticost, I used a quite uncommon term for me: originality. I want to confirm that today because, beyond some inevitable influences from abroad, this material still shows some really peculiar aspects: unconventional sound textures, a theatrical vocal approach and a weird, ironic and creative spirit that within live performances were combined in some sort of sound and visual extravaganza. Something very unusual, considering how much the new wave circuit of the period was generally austere. Rock meets Dada? Of course! Otherwise why such an explicit title?" - Federico Guglielmi, July 2014
