Cincinnati’s newest, Pavement-esque rock band, Plastic Ants, have provided music fans with a unique outlook into the mysterious, commonly under-appreciated aspect of recording and pressing a vinyl release. With the release of their debut LP, “Falling to Rise” on Sept. 23, 2014, the pop-rockers deliver on an exquisite debut record characterized by sentiments of adoration, nostalgia, and fragmented communication. It straddles borders, providing “an aural concoction that manages to be both soaringly optimistic and unsentimentally dark” (Plastic Ants).
Aside from the musical content itself, the band has done something unique to distribution that more and more independent bands are trending towards. Since the conception of “Falling to Rise,” Plastic Ants wanted to be sure they released their record on vinyl – the ultimate sonic medium, in their opinion. With the drastic increase in the popularity of streaming, the value of the vinyl has significantly decreased, and the Plastic Ants wanted to change that. Although vinyl does not provide listeners with the convenience of mp3 files, it emulates an undefinable richness in quality, with a much less-compressed sound when compared to modern mediums of music (i.e. mp3, mp4, FLAC, etc.).
In an attempt to popularize their vinyl sales and the promotion of vinyl sales elsewhere, the guys have provided documentation of the creation and travels of the vinyls themselves. Traveling over 4,000 miles, the vinyl copies of “Falling to Rise” made their way through Cincinnati, Memphis, New Jersey, and even Quebec! Who knew it took so much networking and travel to print and release a vinyl record? For more info on the story and travels of “Falling to Rise,” check out today’s infographic!