Latino punk

The angst and protest qualities of punk music and style have had a strong appeal to Latino youth in the U.S., and to the people in Latin America.

The Saicos were predecessors to some of the most influential proto-punk bands in the U.S., such as New York Dolls, MC5, and The Stooges[1] Punk music began engaging a wider variety of artists and audience in the late 1970s and 1980s, either in Latin America or in the U.S. By the mid-1970s, the aesthetics promoted by glam rock in the United Kingdom had created a social gap between the audience and the artist.

The punk scene that began to sprout during that era shared more commonalities with the youth audience, while still retaining some attributes from glam rock.

[3] Up to these days there are several Latino members among many prominent American punk bands, such as Roger Miret from Agnostic Front, Freddy Cricien from Madball, Mike Muir from Suicidal Tendencies, Kid Congo Powers from The Gun Club, Ron Reyes from Black Flag, Mario Rubalcaba from Hot Snakes, and Jorge Herrera from The Casualties, among others, having written several songs in Spanish as a homage to their Latin American roots.

Several of these countries shared a history of dictatorship, poverty and political oppression, about which these Latin American teens began to sing and play.

Although this first wave sang mostly in English, their music gained considerable airplay and press coverage earning them TV appearances and opening slots for bands like The Police and The Plugz during their first ever concerts in Mexico.

[8] Early 80's gave birth to a second wave of punk inspired by a more aggressive street and hardcore sound, mostly formed by marginalized minorities from cities like Guadalajara, Tijuana and Estado de México such as Sedición, Solución Mortal, Masacre 68, Atoxxxico and Síndrome del Punk, hosting DIY concerts in Mexico for bands like MDC and Dead Kennedys.

The 1987 documentary El Grito Subterraneo (The Underground Scream), presented interviews of youth in the movement, and outside officials trying to understand the movement, as well as performances in Peru at the time, such as Voz propia [es], Leusemia, Eutanasia, Kaos, Flema, Narcosis, Maria Teta, Empujon Brutal, Sinkura, Guerrilla Urbana, and others.