The Plimsouls - Everywhere at Once

1983 was a long, long time ago.  I had been at the Press (not the old newspaper, that's just what we called where I worked) for a year and my oldest son was a year old and I had been married for less than that.  I think we lived in an apartment building, but we may have still been in my wife's mom's basement.  I think it was the basement.  I had a '70 Torino I bought from a friend for 75 bucks over two paychecks (150 dollar car, so you know it was nice!).  It had a 351 Cleveland and a posi rear end.  It flat out hauled ass, but it was pretty beat up.  We used to take her mom wherever she needed to go, and I paid her about 2/3'ds of my pay for rent and took her wherever she wanted to go because she couldn't drive.  I remember an uncle staying there and I was going to a concert with a woman I had known since Jr. High, and my wife was going dancing with her friends and we were going to meet up at the bar down the street after the show.  The uncle said we'd never make it.  It's 2013 and I'm still married to the same girl, so I don't feel bad about telling him he should mind his own business and only talk shit about things he knew (I may have told her mom that, but I wanted to tell him, and at that point in my life I was pretty chippy when I was pissed, so I think I told him).

You know what The Plimsouls had to do with that?  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  I didn't have this album then.  I wasn't buying many records for the first part of the 80's because I didn't have any money and Reagan and his cronies were real tough on the minimum wage crowd, lemme tell ya.  I think I got this in the mid 90's on cd.  I've got a really clean vinyl version of it, too.  It even has the original paper sleeve, which has the lyrics and some cool neon greenness to it.  The one thing I don't like about this album is that the drums sound like 1985, and unfortunately this was released in 1981.  None of that matters, though.  The songs are all top notch and you can tell through the shiny production that these guys were just killer.  Which leads me to a question - If this kind of production can't be overlooked, then why do I have to listen through the added layers of hiss and clipping to get to the "killer catchy pop sensibilities" of a band like Times New Viking, but the truly great songwriting and execution is much easier to hear and enjoy here?  Why is that, some of you critics out there?  Why is made up lo fi better than too much studio sheen?  I think it's because if you compared the two bands live, The Plimsouls would make today's lo fi popsters sound like amateurs.  I may not be enamored of the way this sounds, but there's no denying that Shaky City, How Long Will It Take and A Million Miles Away are really great songs.  Songs as good as anyone was doing in 1981, and songs that still sound great today.

Like I said, I've got a really clean copy of this.  I think I bought it used six or seven years ago, then found another one to replace that one more recently.  I think it's one of those records someone got as gift or something and never played.  Either that, or it's like some people with reel to reel decks used to do - they'd buy an lp, record it and then sell it back to the record store or at a garage sale someday.  Thanks, person that did that or didn't like good music.  Whatever the reason for me getting a minty fresh copy of one of my favorite records of all time, I really appreciated your lack  of effort where this record was concerned!