POP MUSIC REVIEW : For Plimsouls, Nostalgia Is Only Half the Fun

It was just two songs into the Plimsouls’ reunion Saturday at the Coach House when front man Peter Case posed the pertinent question of the evening.

In “Makin’ Time,” which outwardly explores a relationship nearing the point of no return, Case sang: “Why do we gotta carry on / Are we singing the same old song?”

In musical terms, the answer was yes. And no. There were times when the evening felt like an old-home-week visit to the early-’80s L.A.-O.C. club scene, an impression heightened by the presence of an ex-Go-Go on the bill. Yet both groups showed their gazes are fixed forward.

The nostalgia reached its peak when the Plimsouls closed the pre-encore portion of the show with their biggest hit, “A Million Miles Away,” getting the house full of ex-New Wavers up and dancing as if it were 1983 all over again.

Back then, the Plimsouls’ winningly supercharged rock ‘n’ soul sound never won the widespread recognition it deserved. It’s equally true that such contemporary groups as the Gin Blossoms are now working similar musical fields to significantly greater commercial success.

But looking back fondly can carry a reunion only so far. What’s important today isn’t so much how the old songs hold up--for the record, just fine--but how the new ones stack up.

That issue wasn’t settled entirely Saturday. Between Case’s shadow-boxer’s dance around the microphone and a sound mix that sometimes left the vocals muddied, lyrics for the new material didn’t get an ideal airing during the 75-minute set.

But there’s little reason to fret on that front since Case, the group’s chief songwriter, has maintained his high standard with a pen through his solo work since walking away from the group a decade ago.

Musically, “Down,” “12 O’Clock Midnight” and “Feelin’ Strange” and other new ones found the Plimsouls’ R&B-rooted; garage-band rock sounding as invigorating in the ‘90s as ever.

That left only the chemistry between the musicians to worry about. On that front, everything still seems to be clicking between Case, guitarist Eddie Munoz, bassist David Pahoa and new drummer Clem Burke (formerly of Blondie, the Romantics and Dramarama).

The biggest difference between the Plimsouls of yesterday and today seems to be the way the group’s energy manifests itself.

Now, they exhibit an unforced joy that wasn’t always there the first time around. The insistent drive that once appeared an expression of anxiety and uncertainty--Case confessed after leaving that he felt trapped and powerless when the group was at its peak--now seems powered by the confidence of musicians who are together by choice, not circumstance.

Assuredness also streamed out of the Delfines, the funk-pop trio that preceded the Plimsouls and shares some of its roots in the Southland’s alternative-music scene.

Guitarist Kathy Valentine (ex-Go-Go and ex-Textone) mostly let her fingers do the talking while the majority of the vocals were handled by bassist Dominique Davalos, Valentine’s cohort recently in yet another L.A. band, the Blue Bonnets.

Looking for inspiration to the acid bluesiness of Hendrix, the skewed harmonies of X and the lean white funk of Talking Heads, the Delfines (rounded out by the magnificently adept drumming of Paul Crowder) churned out one catchy, muscular tune after the next, most of them having to do with unfaithful, unstable or uncooperative men.

The show was opened by Psychic Rain, an Orange County-based quartet that reflects such British pop influences as the Smiths and Simple Minds.

Its songs boast youthful (sometimes naively so) heart-on-sleeve lyricism wrapped in accessible pop-minded arrangements. Lead singer Greg Stoddard has a sufficiently appealing voice and demeanor that he could ease back on the self-conscious attempts to project stage presence.