I used to make it a ritual to go to the antiques shops out on Doniphan way more often than I do now. The mission: crate digging, and there was plenty of it back then. Looking for vinyl goodies in El Paso always steered me towards these shops; there was always some of the good stuff.
Back then you had Pat over the legendary House Mouse who had a space filled with thousands of records (she had been there at that space since the 80s until a few years ago), Area 51 which is still there and I sometimes visit if I’m in the area, plus a handful of other spaces had a crate or 2 of dad’s old records. Now at days there’s still records there, there’s also a new spot where Atomic Wax used to be before relocating to downtown. This is where I found my copy of The Plugz first album, Electrify Me— for 2 bucks.
Not only were The Plugz one of the first Chicano punk bands in Los Angeles, CA in the late 70s along side fellow brown brothers The Zeros, they are also credited as being the first punk band in L.A. to make their own records on their own label Plugz Records. The band showed that, just like the Buzzcocks and their Spiral Scratch 45 record, you don’t have to wait around for a major label or anyone to make your record, just do it yourself.
I had first heard about The Plugz in high school from my fellow punk friends; they were miles ahead of me as far as punk goes passing around mix tapes that had stuff like Radio Birdman, Dead Boys, Teenage Head and plenty of Ramones and Misfits.
Though the Plugz were from L.A., singer/guitarist Tito Larriva was born in Juárez, MX and grew up in El Paso for part of his life. Relocating to L.A. saw Larriva aside from the music thing, having acting roles; you can catch him as Hammy on the Pee Wee Herman Show, and also in Born in East LA, Road House, From Dusk Till Dawn (his band Tito & Tarantula is the bar band) and Desperado to name a few movies he’s appeared in.
Drummer for The Plugz, Charlie Quintana, was born in El Paso and has my vote for being one of the coolest dudes from this town. Not only was Quintana part of one of the first wave of punk bands of the L.A. punk scene (and a SoCal legend) he was also in the band Cruzados with Larriva, Izzy Stradlin and the Ju Ju Hounds, Agent Orange and was also the drummer for Social Distortion from 2000-2009. Quintana also toured with Bob Dylan in the 90s. Unfortunately Quintana suffered a heart attack and passed away March 12, 2018, but has left a rich musical history that needs to see more light and praise.
Bassist Barry McBride was part of the core lineup but was later replaced by John Curry who didn’t last long himself.
The Plugz would tear up the L.A. punk scene with their frantic live show and a cult Chicano following that is said would go into a frenzy when the band would play a revved up version of the Ritchie Valens’ hit (but not originally his either) “La Bamba.”
Electrify Me came out in 1979 and is a lo-fI DIY punk album heavy on the bass riffing, punchy guitar structures (with actual chords, not just all power chords) and catchy vocal harmonies made for great crowd sing alongs whenever they played live. If anything, the album leans heavy on power-pop which there was plenty of out in L.A. at the time. It also reminds me of a grittier Clash, having more song structure than your typical 3 chord punk bands with the occasional instrumental break, added keyboards, trombones and even a sax on the song “Wordless.”
If anything, Larriva’s raspy vocal is what gives The Plugz its punky edge. The album opener “A Gain-Loss” starts things off at high speed and pogo ready. The band slow it down on “Electrify Me” with its reggaeish groove and hints of new-wave.
The Plugz released a follow up album in 1981 titled Better Luck before morphing into the more blues and rock based Cruzados. Larriva still tours as a solo artist, and also with his band Tito and Tarantula. The Plugz will continue on being punk legends and Chicano heroes, born and raised in the border land.