By Thomas Conner
© Tulsa World First, I couldn't get anyone to go to the show with me. "Who are the Plimsouls?'' my poor friends would ask. I could feel age advancing upon me like a Monkees fan. Then I arrived at Ikon and greeted Davit Souders, the club's owner. He said, "You'll feel young when you get inside. Three kids came in and asked for their money back because they said the crowd was too old.'' Indeed, I was a pup among dewey-eyed fellow geeks stuck somewhere between the uplifting label of boomers and the targeting label of Generation X. Some of them had brought their kids, and all of them restrained themselves from dancing. The Plimsouls are relics from that brief period in music history when pop and rock merged quite fluidly. Now 15 years after their original heyday, they held the Ikon stage on Monday night with all the presence of ROCK STARS — flashy, brash, hard-worn purveyors of the teen beat. Nobody in this quartet is pin-up material (when they make the film, Eric Stolz will gain several pounds and play lead singer Peter Case), but they rock in the purest sense. They're not out to change the world, they're not willing to sell their grandmothers to be the next big thing and they have a freakin' ball. Case has one of the most unpleasant, scratchy voices in rock 'n' roll, and he uses it to an incredibly appealing effect. Without the sniggering attitude of a young Paul Westerburg, Case leads his band through music perfectly balanced between the jangle of the Byrds and the serrated stab of Blondie. It was around bands like the Plimsouls, the dBs and early Joe Jackson that the term "power pop'' was born. This is pop — unselfconscious, unpretentious songs about bad luck and getting even and missing your other half -- charged with the desperation and kick of serious rock 'n' roll. As the band charged through its lengthy set (rarely stopping for more than a breath between songs), the guitarist cycled through about eight different guitars while drummer Clem Burke — of Blondie fame — reminded us how cool drummers can be. n occasional offbeats, he would raise a drumstick high in the air, his eyes following it, then drop it with a crash and a wince. He wore a D.A.R.E. T-shirt. (When they make the film, Dana Carvey will have his role.) This was no nostalgia show, either. As Case sang, "Time goes by so fast / I don't want to live in the past.'' The set included the standards (yes, they played "A Million Miles Away'') plus a Who cover and several new songs, "Playing With Jack'' and "(Too Much) Satisfaction,'' which are just as hot as the originals, maybe better. Another band of power popsters from the L.A. scene opened the show, 20/20. These three guys are Tulsa natives, though this was their first Tulsa show. The group's two founding members came back together last year to make another album with Bill Belknap, owner of Long Branch Studios. Now the three kick around the country playing infrequent gigs, wherever they find a festival or an audience of new wave nostalgists. Despite that occasional playing schedule, this trio is amazingly tight. Guitarist Steve Allen worked a lot of sound out of his lone guitar, and Belknap pounds the drums with shocking ferocity. Ron Flynt, the gangly bassist, loped around the Ikon stage flashing his curious expressions of bliss and confusion. His songs of tarnished innocence and childlike reconciliation reflect his visage, from the set opener "Song of the Universe'' through 20/20 classics like "Remember the Lightning,'' "Nuclear Boy'' and "Yellow Pills.'' I'm no old coot, but somehow I become Grumpy Old Man when talking about my new wave heroes. Those three kids should have stuck around. This "old'' music feels so much younger. Comments are closed.
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Thomas Conner
These online "clips" reproduce a self-selection of my journalism (music etc) during the last 20+ years. It's a lotta stuff, but it only scratches the surface. I do not currently possess the time or resources to digitize the whole body of work. These posts are simply a bunch of pretty great days at the office. Archives
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