By Nicholas Merl
The cover of Plastic Mystic’s “AMERICAN SPIRIT / SEVERANCE,” published March 2025. Art by Thomas Corbin.
Plastic Mystic is a post-punk psych freakout trio based in Denver. Originally formed in late 2022 Plastic Mystic have become familiar faces on the Denver hardcore circuit. As a group they have carved a distinctive niche out of Colorado’s underground music community with a unique synthesis between Fugazi-esque lo-fi haze and the dark mysticism of the early post-punk wave.
Stylistically the trio combine to create a feverish, hypnotic sound with a tinge of psychedelia. Effervescent and constantly in flux, Plastic Mystic is at once blazing mania in “Ur2Kool,” grinding paranoia in “Gridlock” and a galloping blizzard in “No Separation.” Guitarist and songwriter Kieran Woodiwiss’ poetic, spiritual lyricism infuses the manic haze with an understated depth and complexity, galvanized by drummer Bobby Lirette’s aggressive percussion and Joseph Grobelny’s growling bass.
Lirette and Grobelny had been familiar before forming Plastic Mystic, playing together several times. The two met guitarist/songwriter Kieran Woodiwiss in 2022, after the latter had been distributing his art at one of Grobelny’s performances. After speaking with Woodiwiss, Grobelny said he realized that “ he doesn’t just do art. He’s a crazy musician.“
The name “Plastic Mystic” was Woodiwiss’ idea. “ I like Plastic Mystic cause it rhymes,” he said. “But also like, I’ve been around a lot of people who consider themselves to be like gurus of a sort or like spiritualists and are really superficial and are just kind of in it for ego games. So I think I was kind of inspired by my personal lived experience of just being around real life plastic mystics. ”
Woodiwiss is the trio’s principal songwriter. True to the band name, his lyrics often satirize psychedelia and ridicule the superficialities of new age spirituality. “ I think psychedelia is a really fun realm to explore it through the lens of like, social criticism and just the punk kind of mentality,“ he said.
This attitude is on full display in the song “Devotion,” where pseudo-religious lyrics take aim at consumerism and alienation. “Consumerism is like the new religion, whether people accept that intellectually or not,” Woodiwiss said. “I think a lot of us, we go and we pay homage to, you know, like shopping malls and, and stores. And, you know, it’s just this kind of thing that we all love and revere and participate in.”
Psychedelia aside, many of the band’s influences stem from the members’ individual styles and experiences. Lirette and Grobelny, who are 46 and 43 respectively, cited the grunge wave of the 90s, particularly Fugazi, as key influences. Woodiwiss, 27, was much more influenced by the egg punk and post-punk revivals of the 2000s and 2010s.
“It’s just a blend of all our styles that we came to the table with,” Lirette said of his fellow bandmates’ different styles. “Kieran writes most of the songs. And I play really heavy and Joe just slaps on the bass, you know, so we just kind of blend all that together.“
This is especially apparent in the individual members’ approaches to their music. For Grobelny, the primary attraction of forming a band was the stage experience. “ For me, the performance was the thing that really drove my interest,“ Grobelny said. “ Bobby’s a punk drummer and Kieran’s a post punk guitar player and I just like performing.”
Grobelny’s love for performance doesn’t conform to any particular musical style. “The thing that I take pride in is like being able to serve a song no matter what it is,” she said.
Grobelny, who identifies as transgender, cited performance as a major tool for feeling her identity authentically. “Music has always been part of my self exploration. And what better place to do that than in front of everyone else,“ she said. “ To be in a community where that is good. And that is safe is like, you know, you couldn’t ask for better.”
On a deeper level, Plastic Mystic’s music is informed by all the band members’ lived experiences. There is a deep undertone of progressive politics throughout the group’s music. Woodiwiss held a job as a social worker, witnessing poverty firsthand. Lirette is a government worker whose job has recently been threatened by the Trump administration’s spending cuts. Lirette said that the political role of musicians is simple: “ Complain about it until something changes, you know?”
Ultimately, Plastic Mystic is all about the people who make it up. Grobelny saw this as the essence of any good band. “If music is the thing that feeds your soul, don’t stop doing it,”she said.