RhoDeo 1831 Aetix

Hello, looks like the hot summer is finally history, time for some rain and mosquitoes, meanwhile California remains ablaze...


Today's artists were formed by singer, guitarist, and songwriter Peter Case (who had previously fronted power pop band The Nerves), the band began as a trio in 1978, initially named the Tone Dogs. From inception, the band quickly became a crowd favorite in the Los Angeles club scene. ..............N'Joy

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Formed in Los Angeles in 1978, the Plimsouls merged roots, retro and guitar rock with a ramshackle punk aesthetic. At a time when rock music was shifting gears, the Plimsouls' brand of soul-punk -- a modern take on '60s soul, British Invasion and garage rock sounds -- fit right in with the '80s post-punk American guitar band movement. Known for their kinetic live performances, the Plimsouls had an exceptional frontman in singer/songwriter Peter Case whose decision to pursue a solo career effectively ended their '80s run, but whose songs have kept the group's slight catalog and legacy in the public eye.

Case came to the Plimsouls with experience, having previously collaborated with Jack Lee and Paul Collins in the Nerves, a precursor-to-punk D.I.Y. group with a 1976 single, "Hangin' on the Telephone" (later recorded by Blondie). Living in L.A., Case started to play with locals Louie Ramírez (drums) and Dave Pahoa (bass) in 1979, and within the year Eddie Muñoz (of Austin's the Skunks) joined them on guitar. After recording one EP, Zero Hour in 1980, and a self-titled album in 1981 that contained the now classic power pop anthems "Zero Hour" and "Hush, Hush," the group self-financed a single, "A Million Miles Away." The jangling guitar song was picked up by influential FM station KROQ and thanks to trend-setting DJ Rodney Bingenheimer, the song became a local smash, catapulting the Plimsouls toward wider recognition. The inclusion of "A Million Miles Away" on the soundtrack to the cult film Valley Girl cemented the band's reputation as power pop icons and remains a timeless classic.

An album for Geffen, Everywhere at Once, followed in 1983 but ultimately, the liaison with the label was not a lasting one and the Plimsouls broke up shortly after its release. A testament to the band's stage power is the live document, One Night in America, released in 1988. Following the group's dissolution, Case went on to record a solo album for Geffen; he remains a critically admired and influential artist with a large folk, blues and rock repertoire. In 1995-1996, the band, sans Ramírez, re-formed and played a few reunion dates with former Blondie drummer Clem Burke and released a new studio LP Kool Trash in 1998. In 2005, Oglio Records reissued One Night in America; the original lineup (with Bryan Head on drums) remains together and continues to perform wherever and whenever there's a demand for their unique soul-punk sound.

 
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The Plimsouls were in the right place and time--Los Angeles just after the Knack took skinny-tie power pop national--to score a major record deal almost upon forming. With the instant credibility conferred by leader Peter Case's membership in the legendary punk-pop Nerves, whose "Hanging on the Telephone" Blondie had taken to the charts, the Plimsouls were expected to become a very big deal. Sadly, the anti-Knack backlash took down the entire L.A. power pop scene almost overnight, and their self-titled debut disappeared immediately. The excellent Rhino reissue The Plimsouls...Plus collects that album, the rare Zero Hour EP, a handful of b-sides including an early version of Everywhere At Onces stellar "How Long Will It Take?" and an excellent previously unreleased tune called "Memory." Case's rough-edged songs and the band's noisy performances are almost unbearably exciting, and this is a true power pop classic.

The Plimsouls - The Plimsouls...Plus (flac  407mb)

01 Lost Time 3:41
02 Now 2:57
03 In This Town 2:36
04 Zero Hour 2:30
05 Women 2:50
06 Hush, Hush 2:34
07 I Want What You Got 3:25
08 Nickels And Dimes 3:05
09 I Want You Back 2:33
10 Mini-skirt Minnie 2:42
11 Everyday Things 2:29
Plus
12 Memory 2:23
13 Dizzy Miss Lizzie 3:01
14 Great Big World 3:00
15 Zero Hour (Original Version) 2:36
16 Hypnotized 2:57
17 How Long Will It Take? 2:51
18 I Can't Turn You Loose 3:22
19 When You Find Out 2:27
20 Hush, Hush (Live Version) 3:03

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After their eponymous Planet Records debut full-length, the Plimsouls took the major-label bait and signed on with Geffen Records. Everywhere at Once, their first Geffen album, has mixed results. While the change to a major label did have a profound impact on the band, it wasn't always for the best. While Jeff Eyrich's somewhat heavy-handed production did take a little air out of their performance, the end result is far less clinical than other major-label mainstream rock records of the day. Everywhere at Once does contain the Plimsouls' greatest recorded achievement, "A Million Miles Away," which packs all of the passion and punch of some of John Lennon's finest recordings with a wonderful power-driven Byrds-like arrangement. Other standouts on this record include "Play the Breaks" which, while not quite as awesome as it is in a live performance (they were possibly the finest live band in Los Angeles in this period), still shines.

The Plimsouls - Everywhere At Once  (flac  253mb)
 
01 Shaky City 2:36
02 Magic Touch 3:10
03 Oldest Story In The World 3:21
04 Lie, Beg, Borrow And Steal 2:46
05 Play The Breaks 4:19
06 How Long Will It Take 2:31
07 A Million Miles Away 3:35
08 My Life Ain't Easy 2:37
09 Inch By Inch 3:15
10 I'll Get Lucky 2:43
11 Everywhere At Once 3:18
12 Hobo 3:25

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On more than one occasion, Peter Case has said rather pointedly that he never considered either the Nerves or the Plimsouls to be power pop bands -- as far as Case was concerned, he was playing pure and simple rock & roll, and one spin of One Night in America proves the man's point better than words ever could. How, when, or where One Night in America was recorded is a matter of conjecture (Case guesses it was somewhere in Cleveland in his liner notes, and the set list suggests it was sometime after the release of Everywhere at Once), but the tape speaks for itself as far as the Plimsouls' strengths are concerned. One Night in America is the sound of a rough and rowdy rock & roll band conversant in blues, the British Invasion, and straight-ahead barroom boogie, and on this night they were firing on all cylinders, and if the recording quality is a bit shaky in spots, these 12 songs demonstrate a power and streetwise swagger the Plimsouls didn't always achieve in the studio. Eddie Muñoz and Peter Case's guitars cut like switchblades, David Pahoa and Lou Ramirez are a rhythm section with a swing like Joe Louis, and Case sings like a man possessed, making everything from "A Million Miles Away" to "Dizzy Miss Lizzy" sound like it could hold the keys to the universe. As good as the Plimsouls' original two studio albums were (and they were very good indeed), One Night in America truly captures the band in its element, rockin' out on the stage of a club somewhere, and if you subscribe to Keith Richards' theory that on any given night nearly any band could be the greatest rock & roll band on Earth with the right mixture of passion, sweat, and inspiration, chances are on the nameless and dateless night when these tapes rolled, the Plimsouls held the title for 40 glorious minutes. Dig it.

 The Plimsouls - One Night In America   (flac  260mb)

01 Hush Hush 2:38
02 Now 2:55
03 How Long Will It Take 2:55
04 A Million Miles Away 3:29
05 I Want What You Got 4:10
06 Time Won't Let Me 2:49
07 In This Town 2:36
08 One More Heartache 2:29
09 Help Yourself 3:30
10 Dizzy Miss Lizzy 2:55
11 I'll Get Lucky 3:00
12 Come On Now 3:30

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