Latino Punk Music :: Politics Political Spanish Rock Essays

Hispanic Punk Music nettlesome rock music has r arly been considered a potent semi semipolitical draw out in the United States. Punk is no exception to this rule. As a subculture, seamy has received much more atention for its hairstyles and caustic sounds than its politics. As Daniel Rosenblat points out, oaf rock Confounds our conventional (western) notions of politics by its emphasis on maters which we commit to different domains entirely (1). What he means i s that because punk does not express its political discourse in traditional venues or traditional terms, it is discounted as apolitical or politicaly impotent. To wit, Hebdige argues that subcultures can do litle more than provide a signal of Refusal, and should be considered just the darker side of sets of regulations (3). Latino punks have countered these claims since the 1970s, with lyrical asseverateions that their political speech is an essential precursor to political diverge. In this paper I explore the wa ys in which coetaneous Latino punk self -defines as political, in contrast to primordial punk bands who refused to be affiliated with politics. By explicitly aligning with political causes, Latino punk establishes a tension between punks historical tendencies towards forgetfulness and self -fulfilment, and new political agendas that push awareness and change. I conclude by asserting that the punk movement is preoccupied with idiosyncratic fulfilment at the expense of political activism, a tendenc y that finally undermines its political import.Jose Palafox, of Wiretap Magazine, portrays Latino punk as a leaving from the larger subcultural category of punk, which he dismisses as fast, in -your-face music contend by weird -looking white youth. M any Latino punks assert that as members of a marginalized assemblage within the United States, politics are a necessary element of their musical expressions. Incensed lyrics demand change on behalf of Latin Americans denied political voi ce. Los Crudos was one such purveyor of this politicaly inclined in - your-face music and as a particularly popular and active group within the hardcore -punk community, Los Crudos is in many ways representative of Latino punk in the 1990s. The band began its musical efforts i n Pilsen, the lolly barrio where lead singer MartinSorrondeguy spent his childhood. The bands messages focus on the problems effecting Latin Americans both in the United States and abroad. Sorrondeguy explains We wanted to communicate with former(a) ki ds and with people in our neighborhood about things that were effecting us (qtd.