Plushgun sounds like the neon-lit intersection of a lonely bedroom and a crowded dance floor. It is music built on the contrast between Dan Ingala's earnest, breathy vocals and a backdrop of crystalline synthesizers and driving drum machines. There is a distinct 'shimmer' to the production, a quality that makes even the more melancholic tracks feel like they are glowing from within.
What truly sets the project apart is its origin as acoustic songwriting transformed by electronic curiosity. Unlike many synth-pop acts that start with the beat, these songs feel like they were written on a guitar in a cramped New York apartment before being dressed in layers of digital warmth. This gives the tracks a structural depth and a sense of intimacy that is often missing from more clinical electronica.
Start with 'Just Impolite' to hear the quintessential Plushgun sound: a perfect balance of atmospheric synths and a hook that stays with you. It is the ideal gateway into their world of high-school anxiety, dying romances, and the persistent hope that comes with living in a big city.
Plushgun is an American indie rock/new wave/synthpop band founded by Dan Ingala located in Brooklyn, New York, United States. The current lineup of the band is Ingala, Taylor Armstrong on guitar and Matt Bogdanow on drums. The band gained prominence when its music was featured in episodes of the web series We Need Girlfriends and quickly gained an online following. On May 15, 2008 Plushgun announced a record deal with Tommy Boy Entertainment to release the band's first and self-titled vinyl EP, which was released on August 19, 2008. In a positive review, Orlando Sentinel music critic Jim Abbott wrote that the lead song "Just Impolite" "manages to be breezy and atmospheric" and other tracks "boast plenty of shimmering keyboards, but enough melody to sing along." The music video for "Just Impolite" was directed by celebrity photographer Tyler Shields and starred actresses Brittany Snow and Juno Temple. Their first album, Pins & Panzers, was released on February 17, 2009. Plushgun was Ourstage's first artist to get signed by a prominent record label after Ourstage flew the band out to South by Southwest music festival where Tommy Boy spotted Plushgun. "Just Impolite" was featured on the MTV show The City on December 29, 2008, the film The Good Guy in 2009 and in a Comcast Xfinity commercial in fall 2010. "How We Roll" was featured on an episode of MTV's The Real World: Brooklyn. Plushgun released their second album Me.Me on May 15, 2012 on iTunes. In 2010 Plushgun received a Gold Record for a song on the soundtrack to the German film Zweiohrküken.
Shares synth-pop, indie pop, new wave (subgenres); nostalgic, bittersweet, playful (moods)
Shares synth-pop, indie pop, new wave (subgenres); breathy, gentle, harmonized (vocal style)
Shares synth-pop, indie pop, electropop (subgenres); nostalgic, bittersweet, wistful (moods)
Shares synth-pop, indie pop, new wave (subgenres); breathy, gentle, harmonized (vocal style)
Shares synth-pop, indie pop, new wave (subgenres); digital clarity, layered dense, studio polished (production style)
Shares synth-pop, indie pop, new wave (subgenres); urban night, rooftop, late night (atmosphere)
Shares digital clarity, layered dense, bedroom production (production style); synth-pop, indie pop, new wave (subgenres)
Shares synth-pop, indie pop, electropop (subgenres); nostalgic, bittersweet, playful (moods)
Shares synth-pop, indie pop, electropop (subgenres); urban night, rooftop, late night (atmosphere)
Shares new wave, electropop, synth-pop, indie pop (subgenre)
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