plastic rhino
Plastic Rhino is a female-fronted Alternative Hard Rock duo from LA. Raised on 70's Progressive Rock, 80's Hair Metal, and 90's Alternative Grunge, Plastic Rhino have a deep root in Rock ‘N Roll music. Lead singer and co-writer Atara wanted to be a singer in a band from a very young age. Lead guitarist and co-writer Jack decided he wanted to learn to play guitar after attending his first Metallica concert at the age of 13. When the two of them met in 2011, a strong friendship was formed based on a mutual love for Rock history and live music. In 2013, they stepped into the studio to create their debut EP "Confessions Of A Nobody". Having no clear concept, what became of it was a vast array of music styles and ideas. They formed the band Plastic Rhino and gigged around town, introducing themselves to the music scene. In 2014, they met Tom Chandler, a rock producer who worked with many local and national bands at a show. They decided to collaborate, and "Let's Begin"- the 2nd EP was released. The EP narrowed the scope of the band's sound towards 90's alternative female fronted bands such as Garbage, No Doubt, and Veruca Salt. It garnered local and national attention from many media outlets, giving the band a larger online footprint. Plastic Rhino decided to go back into the studio in 2015 with Tom to create an even heavier rock sound for the band. The new album "Recondition", seven riff-heavy songs with brutal melodic vocal performances inspired by our favorite hard-hitting rock bands, Audioslave, Queens Of The Stone Age, Alice In Chains. The album garnered lots of media and local attention with hits like “Make It Heavy” and “Big Man Baby”. After so many years of hard work, the band hit a plateau. Jack joined other bands, and Atara went solo. All of a sudden, 5 years had passed, and Plastic Rhino found themselves stuck at home in a pandemic bored and looking for a creative outlet. The songs started writing themselves in a way, and Jack and Atara had 15 new song ideas. They hit up their old Producer Tom again, and the next album was created in 2020. “Terminus” is 9 songs, created from the pain and suffering that was the year 2020. Capturing the early 2000 rock vibes, but modern musicality. “Euphoria Now” was the first single released, and to great reception. “King” followed, and was placed on the “All New Rock” Spotify editorial playlist, as well as 95.5 KLOS Heidi and Frank show. “king” music video continues to win awards at film festivals around the world. Plastic Rhino also got love from Apple’s editorial rock playlists for “Another Try”, “I Give You Up”, and “Empath”. Terminus album had gotten radio spins around the world, and placed in top 100 rock charts for independent radio. Terminus tour coming soon.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND OUR MUSIC:
SPOTIFY: CLICK HERE
APPLE MUSIC: CLICK HERE
AMAZON:CLICK HERE
SOUNDCLOUD: CLICK HERE
Listen to us on:
Spotify, Pandora, Apple Music, Earbits Radio, Number One Music, XBox Radio, I Heart Radio, Deezer, Instagram music, Shazam, Tik Tok, Twitch, Tidal, and many more
PRESS
INTERVIEW WITH BUZZSLAYERS.COM BLOG: CLICK HERE
ALBUM REVIEW WITH WONDERLAND MAGAZINE: CLICK HERE
TRACK FEATURE FOR I GIVE YOU UP WITH HOLLYWOOD LIFE MAGAZINE: CLICK HERE
INTERVIEW WITH V13 ABOUT MUSIC VIDEO BLEEDING HEART: CLICK HERE
TRACK FEATURE FOR SCREAM SO LOUD IN FEMME METAL WEBZINE: CLICK HERE
TRACK PREMIERE FOR SCREAM SO LOUD ON METAL INSIDER: CLICK HERE
INTERVIEW WITH POP CULTURE MADNESS MAGAZINE: CLICK HERE
INTERVIEW WITH BLACK IS THE NEW AP STYLE MAGAZINE: CLICK HERE
BLANKTV YOUTUBE CHANNEL PREMIERE OF KING: CLICK HERE
BLEEDING HEART FEATURE IN LINKWRAY LEGEND: CLICK HERE
BLEEDING HEART SINGLE AND VIDEO PREMIERE ON CELEBMIX: CLICK HERE
BLEEDING HEART FEATURE IN GUITAR GIRL MAGAZINE: CLICK HERE
BLEEDING HEART FEATURE IN SHE MAKES MUSIC: CLICK HERE
BLEEDING HEART FEATURE IN PMSTUDIOCO.LTD JAPAN: CLICK HERE
THE RUNDOWN LIST FEATURING “KING” ON FROM THE STRAIGHT: CLICK HERE
95.5 KLOS HEIDI AND FRANK SHOW STAY OR GO SEGMENT FOR PLASTIC RHINO: CLICK HERE
NEW NOISE MUSIC VIDEO PREMIERE FOR “KING”: CLICK HERE
EARMILK FEATURE ON “EUPHORIA NOW”: CLICK HERE
INTERVIEW WITH JLJ MEDIA NEW CONNECTIONS: CLICK HERE FOR INTERVIEW VIDEO LINK
CLICK HERE FOR INTERVIEW WITH 100 PERCENT ROCK MAGAZINE
METAL ASSAULT GIG REVIEW: "I arrived at the Viper Room in time to catch one of the openers, an alternative rock band Plastic Rhino. This local band consists of two female vocalists that play well off each other and have a very similar alto based range. There were some Alice In Chains vibes happening with the guitar style and some pretty fun and creative bass jams were in effect as well. The style with the two singers and overall tones could be compatible with Varuca Salt, and somewhere towards the middle of this set the two girls put on thin black cloaks, which led me to think there were going to be some dark undertones, yet I found nothing dark about this band. The powerful vocals incorporated screams which broke them out of the overall stagnancy that was otherwise in existence, and once all elements added up, it was a very solid and entertaining set." By Lisa Burke
Plastic Rhino set list:
Big Man Baby
Queen Crimson
H2S
Cochise
M.A.D.
Interview with Review Fix: CLICK HERE FOR INTERVIEW LINK
Single Review by Bluesbunny Music: CLICK HERE FOR LINK
Single review on Pure Grain Audio: CLICK HERE FOR LINK
"The Skinny: The elusive Plastic Rhino is in fact not a rare animal at all (we were WAY off with that one). Instead, it is a Los Angeles, CA-based alternative rock duo consisting of Atara Gottschalk (vocals) and Jack Glazer (guitars). So put away your hunting gear and instead bust out your audio listening machine and fire up the song "Big Man Baby". As you sit back and stream and/or download the aforementioned song, be aware that Plastic Rhino are set to release their new album, Recondition, on October 13th, 2015. Loaded with more of the same rad alternative sounds, you can basically expect to fall in love with their in-your-face, '90s-inspired rock." By Christopher Gonda
Single Review by This Is Book's Music: CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW
Single Review Post on Hype Machine: CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW
Album Review on A Little Bit Of Sol: CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW
"Plastic Rhino really cranks out some solid 90’s inspired rock. Let me tell you, lead vocalist Atara Gottschalk can not only sing very well...but can scream like a banshee. It's quite amazing. Check it out!" By Phil Russell
Single Review by With Guitars: CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW
Posted by: Christopher Brown , November 12, 2015- "On the reverberating “H2S” there is dissonant feel in which the guitars and drums are altered just enough that they become almost otherworldly in nature. The chorus is built on layers of affected vocals, encompassing a feeling of forlorn reflection, an emotion that Gottschalk taps into with ease."
Album Review by Razmataz Magazine: CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW
Plastic Rhino’s Recondition: Do you Like It?
Posted on October 29, 2015 by Hayley Sloan // 0 Comments
"Setting out to keep “rock and roll alive and kicking,” Plastic Rhino’s third EP, Recondition, does so in a nostalgic tone that is unmistakably ’90s, with its distorted guitar, anthemic tracks and rebellious spirit. The album challenges the social landscape of today, critiquing anything from its music too full of homogenized “hipster” sounds to the artificially constructed worlds of social media (as Track 3, ‘Like It’, laments the false self-portrayals of an artificial “world of smoke and mirrors where everything is lovely”) to our need to be electronically worshipped.
Atara Gottschalk appropriately expresses this frustration with her raw and expressive vocals, where the overproduced, auto-tune sounds of today have been left behind and replaced with dramatic melodic passages that complement the revolutionary themes in the album with a rawness and aggressiveness appropriate to the lyrical content. The band should be weary of its use of lyrical clichés, such as “hooked like a junkie,” which, at times, hinders the authentic quality the album is striving for. Nonetheless, the lyrics’ central criticisms of the modern world create a cohesive album threaded finely together with related themes.
The second track, ‘H2S’, is the album’s standout track, with its dark, moody tone, offering a quiet and contemplative space before the album returns to its familiar roar. Recondition strives to be a counterpoint to the music of today while simultaneously resurrecting the nostalgic sounds of a not-so-distant past, asking us to recondition ourselves in the process. Listen to Plastic Rhino’s music on their official website and (ironically) check them out onInstagram or Twitter @plastic_rhino."
Album Review by Vents Magazine: CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW
"Plastic Rhino, started In Los Angeles by the duo Atara Gottschalk and Jack Glazer is tearing through the LA rock scene and, based on the strength of their new album, Recondition, will soon be loosed on an unsuspecting but grateful nation. They have brought back the best of the heyday of late 90’s alt rock with a tinge of Bikini Kill feminist punk. Mixing that up with grunge, metal and industrial rock into stripped down, bare bones kinetic sound, they are resonating – literally and figuratively – with a broad and growing audience.
Recondition is the heaviest of their three releases in rock terms, a weight that is intentional, according to guitarist Glazer. Earlier albums,Let’s Begin and Confessions of a Nobody, were much more pop flavored and less structured There is a strategic reason for the heavy rock intensity of Recondition – the founders are on a mission. “Rock and Roll has been pushed aside in the US; it is not played on radio or on MTV, it is sort of underground,” Says Gottschalk, “but not so in Europe and South America where it is still popular. We are bringing it back.”
That mission, bring back rock and roll and keep it alive and kicking, is actually stated on the band’s website. One listen and there is no doubt;Recondition is proof positive that rock and roll is alive and kicking and in Glazer’s own words, the kicking is done in the nuts.
The album kicks off with “Big Man Baby”, a line in the sand drawn by Gottschalk for women everywhere, based on her own experience –made a big mistake, I thought I could train you, fighter” Gottschalk sings with banshee-level intensity about the mistake women have been making since the beginning of mating, tearing across Glazer’s angry guitar beat and vowing that it will never happen again. Tightly written, powerfully messaged and sonically addictive, “Big Big Man” presages a collection of powerhouse, enigmatic, genre-bending, pure-hearted rock and roll.
“H2S” – a reference to the hydrogen sulfide gas given off by decaying bodies – sneaks up on you next, with a cleverly picked string riff introduction and a slower-paced muted snare beat. But Gottschalk and Glazer can’t hold it back for long; the guitar ramps up, the banshee emerges and you are thrown into a near metal world of cinematic darkness and addictive melody. “H2S” will be the next single release from the album, based on the band’s feeling that their fans will be drawn to the darkness as well as the music.
Recondition shifts gears with “Like it”, a classically structured rock tune driven by Glazer’s attack rhythms propelling Gottschalk’s cry for love. Then the album takes a step back in time, both historically and musically, in M.A.D., a reference to the Mutually Assured Destruction doctrine of the Cold War that framed the nuclear stand-off between the then Society Union and the US. It is hard, violent, angry head banging of the highest order, but if you know the history, hopeful as it was M.A.D. that kept the two superpowers from destroying each other.
M.A.D. deploys Gottschalk’s and Glazer’s top- of-the-line writing, frequently done with their producer Tom Chandler, but it also says something about their fans and the secret of their success. At one level, M.A.D. is intellectual and message-heavy, appealing to thinkers as well as rockers. On another level it appeals to people who appreciate female fronted bands and the musical richness of the interplay of female and male energy in music. On a third and most surface level, it is for people who just want to have a good time. But surrounding all of this, Gottschalk points out, is another group of fans, other musicians. They are not only drawn by Glazer’s superb guitar chops and the duo’s economical writing and delivery, but out a sense of community fostered by Plastic Rhino.
Gottschalk and Glazer goes out to listen to as many bands as possible, haunting venues several nights a week and actively supporting the bands they meet. The rewards are a fan base that has a fan base, a cafeteria of contemporary influences and ideas and recruitable talent when needed. But most important is what comes out in songs like M.A.D.. that blend many genres and styles from many places, but is uniquely their own – powerful, clever, important.
That uniqueness runs through the entire album. “Make it Heavy” reminds us that Glazer’s first concert was Metallica when he was 13. High-octane guitar riffs , fast off the line with no brakes, hands moving so fast they blur while the music is crystal-meth clear. “Make it Heavy” just goes! And it doesn’t stop with the next song, “Queen Crimson”, but gets harder, more insistent, Gottschalk’s voice and Glazer’s guitar reaching a head-banging critical mass.
And then, like magic, the world changes. “Ballad of the Last Rhino” opens with Gottschalk telling the fans on tape “OK” and then she sways into a poetic paean to the vanishing animal they ae named after. But this is Plastic Rhino, so “ballad” is actually rock ballad with jangling guitar riffs and a pace-setting rhythm beat. The song has special resonance for the band – they don’t want a world in which there are only plastic rhinos, or aging ones in zoos. They are deeply award that the World Wildlife Fund lists two species of rhino as endangered and 6 others as threatened, existing only in zoos or game parks and under constant poaching pressure for their horns. Plastic Rhino will release “Ballad of the Last Rhino” as a single with the sales proceeds going to rhino conservation."
Patrick O’Heffernan. Host, Music FridayLive!
Album Review by Music Junkie Press: CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW
Album Review by Real Gone Rocks: CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW
Single Review by Palace Of Rock: CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW
The Perfect Scene Interview: CLICK HERE FOR REVIEW
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