Along East Anaheim Street, raucous cheers and punk rock music spill out onto unsuspecting bar hoppers and dog walkers just outside Alex’s Bar.
Lyrics also pour out of the black and red doors:
“My familia headed norte into East LA / Long before it was the USA / It’s where we call home, it’s where we’re gonna stay / This is all we know.”
These lines from Manic Hispanic’s song “Mexican ‘Merican” tell a story both familiar and specific to the Chicano experience: the route of a Mexican family immigrating to different parts of Los Angeles.
Manic Hispanic was one of three bands that performed at Alex’s Bar on Sept. 19 and 20, rallying Latino punk rock fans from the region to find a new band to obsess over or revisit a longtime favorite. The event also featured the groups Sweet and Tender Hooligans and Raptors.
The crowd varying in appearance and origins all ventured to this beloved bar and venue, and were singular in their desire for commotion.
Attendees either sang along to the lyrics or pretended to know them, and most were eager to mosh. A beer was knocked out of a woman’s hand by an enthusiastic mosher, but she didn’t seem to mind. Louie “Juan Solo” Perez III, vocalist for Manic Hispanic, joined in on the party, crowd surfing mid-song, embraced by his punk family.
Chicano punk rock band Manic Hispanic crafts parodies of hit songs, such as “Rudy Cholo” – a parody of “Ruby Soho” by Rancid and “Gotta Get’em Immigrated” – a parody of “Come Out and Play (Keep ’em Separated)” by The Offspring. They formed in Orange County in 1992 and are known for their balance of humor, political undertones and a distinct Chicano sound.
Perez III says he sees their music as a way of “taking back the torch” of punk rock into the Latino community. He added that white bands often get most of the credit for building the punk rock scene while Chicano bands are seen as an afterthought. He brought up bands like The Zeros, Chicanos from Chula Vista, California, considered one of the pioneers of West Coast punk rock. In the scene, they are affectionately referred to as the “Mexican Ramones.”
“Two of the founding members of the Adolescents, which shaped punk rock as we know it from the second wave to the present, all the bands that copied were influenced by the Adolescents; two members were Chicano,” said Perez III, boasting his musical knowledge.
Members of the punk rock persuasion are rightfully passionate. From its inception, the genre burgeoned as a refusal of popular rock of the 1950s, spurning its escapism and glossy entertainment and spawning themes of anger, rejection and attitude. Chicano punk rock even more so embodied this sentiment of resistance.
The creation of the genre stemmed from a desire to create a singular political and cultural identity for Mexican-Americans. Chicano punk forced that desire into the atmosphere in the ‘60s and ‘70s and would not be denied. With a sense of pride and a freedom to be as weird and loud as possible, punk rock groups emerged from East Los Angeles and spread throughout the West Coast, creating a sound that is distinctively Chicano.
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Feelings of pride and resistance are underscored when confronted with oppression. Perhaps that’s why, in the face of attacks on the Latino community from ICE and the federal government, Latinos continue to find solace and inspiration in the sounds of Chicano punk rock.
Gilbert Pichardo, also known as Dreamer, joined the band in 2018 as a vocalist. Pichardo’s perception of punk rock has always been Chicano-centric, as he himself was a childhood Manic Hispanic fan. He says their music is a gateway to express themselves however they want.
“I grew up in the barrio (hood) in Santa Ana and punk rock wasn’t cool, but when I was a kid I would see Manic Hispanic playing and seeing pictures of them dressed like cholos,” Pichardo said. “It was something we could relate to and something that was okay for us to do and was a gateway for us to get into punk rock.”
Juan Sanson, a Long Beach resident, says he relates to their passion and subject matter in many of their songs, such as lyrics from the song “Mexican ‘Merican.”
“I have been looking forward to seeing them for the longest time,” Sanson said. “I’ve been a big fan of their talent, their humor and their voices.”
In the late hours of Sunday night, Latino voices were heard (and screamed), offering a sense of belonging for those present, no matter what was occurring outside the velvet walls of Alex’s Bar.
“In typical cholo fashion, we stole these songs that were famous, and we made them ours because people can relate to them,” Perez III said. “Not because we can’t write our own songs, but it’s funnier to celebrate laughter, much like Chicanos have since the beginning. We laugh now, we cry later.”
