Emerging from Los Angeles in 1978, the Plimsouls fused roots, retro, and guitar rock with an unkempt punk approach. During an era when rock was changing direction, their soul-punk style—a contemporary spin on '60s soul, British Invasion, and garage rock—aligned naturally with the American post-punk guitar-band wave of the '80s. Renowned for high-energy stage shows, the group featured an outstanding frontman in singer/songwriter Peter Case, whose move into solo work closed their initial run yet whose material has sustained the band's modest output and standing in public awareness.
Case arrived with prior background, having worked alongside Jack Lee and Paul Collins in the Nerves, a D.I.Y. outfit that prefigured punk and issued the 1976 single "Hangin' on the Telephone," later covered by Blondie. Settled in L.A., Case began performing in 1979 with local musicians Louie Ramírez on drums and Dave Pahoa on bass; within that same year Eddie Muñoz, previously of Austin's the Skunks, came aboard on guitar. Following the 1980 EP Zero Hour and the self-titled album from 1981 that included the enduring power-pop anthems "Zero Hour" and "Hush, Hush," the band independently funded the single "A Million Miles Away." The jangling-guitar track gained airplay on influential FM outlet KROQ, where trend-setting DJ Rodney Bingenheimer helped turn it into a regional hit that lifted the Plimsouls toward broader attention. Its placement on the soundtrack of the cult movie Valley Girl solidified their status as power-pop icons and left a lasting classic.
A 1983 Geffen release, Everywhere at Once, came next, though the association with the label proved short-lived and the Plimsouls disbanded soon after. Evidence of their live force appeared in the concert recording One Night in America, issued in 1988. After the split, Case recorded a solo album for Geffen and maintained a reputation as a respected, influential figure whose work spans folk, blues, and rock. During 1995-1996 the band, without Ramírez, regrouped for several reunion shows featuring former Blondie drummer Clem Burke and delivered the studio album Kool Trash in 1998.
