The Plimsouls: Live! Beg, Borrow & Steal

Sandwiched between the Plimsouls’ two lone studio albums, and minus the polished production, Beg, Borrow & Steal is a revelation for anyone who never caught them live back in the day. Recorded at the Whiskey A Go Go on All Hallows Eve in 1981, the L.A. quartet surge through a diamonds-in-the-raw set of punked-up ’60s-beat-inspired numbers that have more in common with late ’70s British mod revivalists the Chords and the Purple Hearts than California neighbours the Knack.

Breathless, visceral covers of songs by the Who (“Run, Run, Run”), the Kinks (“Come on Now”), and Larry Williams (“Dizzy Miss Lizzy”) bristle up against what have become classic originals like their self-financed minor hit “A Million Miles Away”, “Zero Hour”, and a guitar-shredding version of “Lost Time”. Make no mistake, Live! Beg, Borrow & Steal is a close-fisted power-pop tour de force.