The Plugz-Electrify Me and Better Luck

The Plugz were notable for being the first Mexican-American punk band as well as one of the first punk acts to emerge in Los Angeles in the late 1970’s. Fronted by the talented Tito Larriva, the band fused a traditional rock sound with a punk sense of irreverence as well as a noticeable Hispanic flavor. The fact that the Plugz music has been out of print for over fifteen years borders on a criminal offense (Rhino, are you listening?). The band’s first album “Electrify Me” was released in 1979 and was one of the first self-released punk LPs in the U.S. The title track gets my vote for Best Punk Ballad Ever, and the tracks “Wordless” and “Mindless Contentment” hold up as solid first wave punk tunes. Their next LP, “Better Luck” was released in 1981 and saw the band moving towards roots rock territory (check out this video from around that time-it shows the band in prime-rocking form, playing an unreleased tune called “Elizabeth”). Sorry to alienate the hardcore punk fans, but in this case it seems to have been a good move musically-the Plugz were even better at playing honest rock n’ roll than they were at playing punk. Of special note are the zany “El Clavo Y La Cruz”, the hard rockn’ “In the Wait” and the Chris Isaak-like numbers "Achin’” and "Shifting Heart" In the mid-eighties the band morphed into Cruzados, a straight up rock band that released one album before splitting in 1990.

If all of this doesn’t sate your Plugz needs, drop a few dollars and buy the Repo Man soundtrack CD (available on Amazon). It was put together by Larriva, and features two Plugz songs not found anywhere else.

Electrify Me

1. A Gain - A Loss

2. The Cause

3. Electrify Me

4. Satisfied Die

5. La Bamba

6. Adolescent

7. Braintime

8.Wordless

9. Let Go

10. Infection

11. Berserktown

12. Revolution

13. Mindless Contentment

Better Luck

1. Better Luck

2. Red Eye #9

3. Achin'

4. American

5. In The Wait

6. El Clavo Y La Cruz

7. Blue Sofa

8. Touch For Cash

9. Gas Line

10. Cesar's Song

11. Shifting Heart

12. No Love

Enjoy

Croatan-Wrong Hole, Dumbass! And Separation Anxiety 7”s

Croatan is a weird two-piece punk/metal act from Cincinnati, Ohio. A husband and wife team, the band has released a couple of full-length albums (several of which are available on itunes), but most of their 7” records are out of print. These are my two favorites. “Wrong Hole, Dumbass!” was released in 1996 on Satan’s Pimp Records. “Separation Anxiety” (released in 1998 on GOD Inc. Records) is particularly good, with the ripping, haunting song “Split the Image” paired with a brilliant metalish cover of the Devo classic “Jocko Homo”. They cheated a bit on the record by overdubbing a bass track (when they play live it’s just Mark on drums and Jenny on guitar/vocals), but I think we can forgive them for that. The band maintains an extensive website with a lot of good information.

1. Up Your Butt and Out the Door
2. She Said “Asshole”
3. Split the Image
4. Jocko Homo

Enjoy

Three Liter Hit-My Life Before The Accident Cassette

I saw Three Liter Hit play at the Magic Bean coffee shop in Springfield in the mid-1990’s. They played punk/alt. rock with a goofy abandon, and I picked a copy of their professionally recorded tape, which became a favorite of mine. Coming out of Wisconsin, the band was apparently something of a local legend. This 1994 release features upbeat, unpredictable songs with some very thoughtful lyric courtesy of frontman Keith Killoren, who later went on to play with the bands Budapest One and the Drams. Keyboard player Nate gave their music some interesting texture by performing some low-key ballads to go along with the more up-beat stuff. A truly obscure band that is very much worth checking out.

1. The Luxurious Alcoholic
2. Rendezvous with a Chambermaid
3. Sinsemilla
4. Rock and Roll Loser
5. After-School Special
6. No Smoking Policy
7. The Altruist
8. Pocketful of Shankers
9. Suddenly, It’s Raining
10. Nate’s Mic Check
11. My Life Before the Accident
12. Whirling Dervish
13. You May Be Right

Enjoy

The Clash-Rat Patrol From Fort Bragg Bootleg CD

I’ve never been as much of a fan of the Clash as lots of my friends are. In my opinion, they had two truly memorable albums. The first was their self-titled debut LP, which has been accurately described as sounding like the Sex Pistols with talent. The second was Combat Rock, the final album recorded with the band’s original lineup. It was one of the first punk records I bought, and it’s always held a special place in my musical heart. Most people are familiar with “Rock the Casbah” and “Should I Stay or Should I Go”, but the some of the lesser-known tracks like “Straight to Hell” display the band’s more offbeat and experimental nature in a compelling way.

I only recently became aware that before the album was released, a much different version had been produced. The band’s guitar player Mick Jones was originally given the responsibility of mixing and sequencing the album, then know under the working title of “Rat Patrol from Fort Bragg”. The rest of the band was dissatisfied with Jones’ mix, and vocalist Joe Strummer stepped in to do a re-mix (Jones was sacked from the band shortly thereafter). The original mix is much longer than the final cut, and was originally meant to cover two LPs. It contains five songs not on Combat Rock (a couple of which are pretty good), and is missing one song (“Overpowered by Funk”). Even the songs that were included in the final product are subtly different here-often longer, with more prominent sound effects, and sometimes with different lead vocal tracks. Strummer did a good job with the remix; Combat Rock is overall a stronger, more concise album that the earlier version presented here. But fans of the album should give this a listen. It presents an interesting alternate take on one of the great albums of period.

1. The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too
2. Kill Time
3. Should I Stay or Should I Go
4. Rock the Casbah
5. Know Your Rights
6. Red Angel Dragnet
7. Ghetto Defendant
8. Sean Flynn
9. Car Jamming
10. Inoculated City
11. Death Is a Star
12. Walk Evil Talk
13. Atom Tan
14. First Night Back in London
15. Cool Confusion
16. Straight to Hell

Enjoy

Inspector Luv And The Rideme Babys-Another World 7”

Inspector Luv and the Rideme Babys were an obscure garage/groove band that played around the Pacific Northwest in the late 80’s and early 90’s. I found this record in a used music shop around 1991, and I've always liked it. Released on Aroma Records (based in Tacoma, Washington) in 1989, the 7” has a slow, rough sound, and a talented vocalist who at times does a spot-on impression of Iggy Pop. Some members of this band later went on to form Green Apple Quick Step, a moderately successful 90's grunge band.

1. Soulstep
2. Sea Monkeys
3. Another World
4. Eleventeen

Enjoy