The Plimsouls Re-Souled at the Bowery Electric

Eddie Munoz

After the power pop band the Nerves broke up in 1978, vocalist/guitarist Peter Case formed a rock trio called the Tone Dogs, which quickly became the Plimsouls, in Paramount, California. Guitarist Eddie Muñoz, originally from Austin, Texas, joined the Plimsouls shortly thereafter. The Plimsouls achieved national attention in 1983 when "A Million Miles Away" from the soundtrack of the film Valley Girl became a minor hit, but then Case left to launch a solo career and the band dissolved. The Plimsouls reunited several times, but never as the original line-up. Recently, Muñoz used the brand to form a new band, the Plimsouls Re-Souled, which plays the music of the Plimsouls. The Plimsouls Re-Souled presently consists of Muñoz, vocalist/guitarist Bryan Malone of the Forty-Fives, bassist Jeff Walls  of the Woggles, and drummer Rick West of Bad Dude. The Plimsouls Re-Souled has not recorded any music.

There is very little chance that Peter Case can be persuaded to reform the original Plimsouls, so the Plimsouls Re-Souled at the Bowery Electric was the closest that 21st century New Yorkers were going to get. The original band did not have a strong New York following, but the retooled band proved that the Plimsouls was an underrated rock and roll band. Although the original band debuted during the punk era, tonight's concert showed that the music hearkened back to a much earlier British Invasion-era garage sound. It was fast, it was raw, and it was gut-driven guitar rock. Malone's coarse and throaty vocals and Muñoz's crisp guitar leads gave the old songs a heightened value. The Plimsouls Re-Souled honored the sturdiness and the timelessness of unhyphenated rock and roll.

Visit the Plimsouls Re-Souled at www.theplimsouls.com.