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Egocentric Plastic Men... Not Too Easy To Forget


"I'm not a hipster, I just wear the glasses." That was it. Those were all the words it took for me to get excited about this post. I've been looking for local artists to feature on here for some new content! The first band featured is a pop-punk/alternative band from Philadelphia, PA called... Egocentric Plastic Men.

If you're like me, you might not recognize that phrase at first. You might think it's three randomly strung together words but alas, you are wrong.

Let me re-direct you all to "Chump" by Green Day: "Magic Man. Egocentric Plastic Man. Yet you still get one over on me."

There we go. The three magic words. Anthony Piergiovanni, the band's vocalist/bassist, says that's where the name came from.

"We always thought it was cool how bands got their names from other bands lyrics or song titles and we see that a lot today."

Just a quick reference point: All Time Low ("Head On Collision" - New Found Glory), Death Cab For Cutie ("Death Cab For Cutie" - Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band), Panic! At The Disco ("Panic" - Name Taken), Man Overboard ("Man Overboard" - Blink 182). The list continues.

The trio met because of school. Piergiovanni met Billy Pfeifer (Guitar/Vocals) during their Freshmen year of high school and decided to have a jam session. They both grew up listening to the typical pop-punk starter pack: Green Day, Blink 182, Sum 41, etc., and Billy brought his long-time friend, Dom Russo to play the drums. The rest is history.

The guys released their debut album, "Batteries Not Included," on December 21, 2013. It doesn't take much analysis to hear the group's obvious musical influences. The songs pay homage to some of their favorite bands from Foo Fighters to New Found Glory and from Yellowcard to Motion City Sountrack. They even threw a little Weezer in there, too!

I love that these guys are bringing back the "old-school" sound to the scene. This album isn't overly-produced. You're not going to hear a lot of synths or auto-tune. The guitars are loud, the bass riffs are awesome, and there are gang vocals! You can't go wrong.

As I listened to this album, I started writing down little notes. Most were the band that a specific song reminded me of, not including track number 5 where I wrote: "Save the Queen... perfect little Blink/NFG baby". I'll let you have that one. But there were some where I pointed out lyrics that I loved or songs where I felt a lot of people could relate.

"Letters To Emily," is heartbreaking in it's own right. The song is urging Emily to keep pushing forward despite the things she is going through. "Dear Emily, You're fading fast From all the paper faces that will make your sorrow last."

A song everyone will feel connected to is "Daydream." A song which Piergiovanni feels is the group's favorite song off the album. The song about the pain of unrequited love. EPM still make sure to throw that song in the current setlist.

Just take a look at the second verse: "My dream always has to come to an end / I lose my lover, I find my friend / She loves me not but I love her so / I open my eyes and she lets me go." In a personal opinion, this is my favorite song (lyrically) on "Batteries Not Included."

The guys are in the studio working on a new album which is sure to be an even bigger ode to the alternative/punk scene. The new record will help them gain some different types of fans as they broaden their influences.

"We want to be a diverse band that can appeal to a lot of different music tastes," Piergiovanni said, "it's something we always strived to be since we started."

The band's next single, "We're the Ones," doesn't have a release date yet, is sure to be done by the end of May. As to what fans can expect, I'm told it is a "fun and catchy song that'll be stuck in their heads for the rest of the day."

When they're not playing shows, the guys are still in school, earning degrees in their respected fields. Piergiovanni is studying culinary arts at The Restaurant School at Walnut Hill College, Pfeifer is studying computer engineering at Villanova University, and Ross is studying mechanical engineering at Temple University.

With that being said, they've been building their fan base steadily over the last 6 years.. Right now, they're focused on making their name in the Philadelphia scene. Eventually, however, they do plan on doing some touring.

As with every interview, I asked Piergiovanni if there was anything he wanted people to know about EPM. I'm confident his response is all you really need to know about them.

"We'll give everything we got as if it was our last show every single time."

I have a link to the Egocentric Plastic Men's Facebook Page as well as their bandcamp page if you guys want to know more. They are playing a show at The World Cafe Live in Philly and if you're in the area you definitely have to stop by.

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