The Plastic Constellations

Guitarists Jeff Allen and Aaron Mader of the Plastic Constellations met when they were in the seventh grade in Hopkins, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis. The two shared a love of indie rock and naturally began writing and playing songs together. Two years later, they formed the Plastic Constellations (who would come to be affectionately referred to as the Consties) with drummer Matt Scharenbroich and bassist Jordan Roske. In December of 1997, the band scored a major coup when they were invited to fill the opening slot of a holiday concert at Minneapolis' legendary First Avenue club, headlined by Duluth's biggest musical export, Low. The following year, the band released their first 7" single on their Pretentious Records imprint. A dreamy two-song debut for both the band and the label, the record was popular enough to snag them some air time on the University of Minnesota's influential AM radio station, Radio K. Frequently playing shows at the late, great Foxfire Coffee Lounge (an all-ages punk rock venue that was instrumental in nurturing young local talent), the Plastic Constellations soon earned a reputation as one of the most exciting live bands in the Twin Cities. Much to the pleasure of their growing local fan base, the band released the We Got the Movement EP in 1999, which further boosted their popularity. Movement documented the band's growing confidence and improved songwriting, and along with sound-checking the usual indie punk suspects, it expressed an unexpected rhythmic and ideological kinship with hip-hop. The Consties' first full-length, Let's War, was jointly released in the summer of 2000 by Modern Radio and Blood of the Young Records, mere weeks after the members had graduated from Hopkins High School.