Manic Hispanic

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Manic Hispanic

Manic Hispanic at the Warped Tour
Background information
Origin Orange County, California
Genres Punk rock
Years active 1992 (1992)–Present
Labels BYO Records
Associated acts The Adolescents, The Grabbers, Punk Rock Karaoke, The X-Members, 22 Jacks, Final Conflict, Agent Orange, The Cadillac Tramps, Death by Stereo
Website Official Site
Members Mike Gaborno
Steve Soto
Tio
Chino
Oso
Mad Ralphie
Mo Grease
Efrem Martinez Schulz

Manic Hispanic is a punk rock/Chicano rock band from Orange County and Los Angeles, California. They are a semi-parodic act that plays cover versions of punk rock and hardcore punk "standards" by slightly renaming songs and adjusting lyrics to address Chicano culture. The band's members are all Mexican or part Mexican[1] and use stage names further marking the Mexican/Chicano image of the band. Manic Hispanic is a punk supergroup made up of former and/or current members of The Adolescents, The Grabbers, Punk Rock Karaoke, The X-Members, 22 Jacks, Final Conflict, Agent Orange, Death by Stereo and The Cadillac Tramps.[2]

Band Formation

Manic Hispanic was originally started in 1992 by Mike "Gabby" Gaborno (aka Jefe) from The Cadillac Tramps and Steve Soto (aka El Hoakie Loco) from The Adolescents/22 Jacks, originally with the intent to perform doo-wop versions of punk songs.[3] Members later recruited are: Chino and Mo Grease (members of The Grabbers), Oso (from The Cadillac Tramps), Mad Ralphie (aka Steve"Ace" Acevedo a Sound Engineer and tour manager), and Sonny (aka Tio).[4] According to their Myspace page, the band members have changed since their first album.[5]

The name of the band keeps with their habit of mashing up Latin/Cholo culture with punk culture, the name being a play on Manic Panic a brand of hair dye popular in the punk scene.

Recorded Material

Their first album was released in 1992 on Doctor Dream records.[6] Entitled The Menudo Incident, a reference to Guns N' Roses' The Spaghetti Incident, it featured cover versions of songs by The Buzzcocks, The Damned, X, Black Flag, Wire, The Clash, and others. These cover versions featured rewritten lyrics humorously reflecting the Chicano identity of the band and Chicano/Mexican culture as a whole. Tracks commonly include lyrics sung in Spanish, English, and Chicano "slang" aka Caló. Examples include songs such as The Damned's "New Rose" retitled "New Rosa", and Eddie and the Subtitles' "American Society" retitled "Mexican Society." The Menudo Incident also contains a version of Tejano/country musician Freddy Fender's "Before the Next Teardrop Falls", a bilingual hit when released by Fender in the 1970s.[7] The cover art mimicked the Guns N' Roses release, showing a bowl of menudo, the traditional Mexican tripe specialty.

The band returned with a second album in 2001, The Recline of Mexican Civilization (spoofing the punk film The Decline of Western Civilization) for BYO Records. BYO also released Mijo Goes to Jr. College (aping The Descendents' Milo Goes To College) in 2003, and Grupo Sexo (spoofing the Circle Jerks' Group Sex) in 2005. These albums modify the original cover art of the albums they are playing off of. The band's out-of-print debut album, The Menudo Incident, was reissued by BYO in 2003.

The band has also released t-shirts based on the Ramones logo, Dead Kennedys' graphics, and the Social Distortion logo.[8]

Chicano Identity

The band's biography information from BYO Records is written in a humorous style, alleging in jest that forming the band was suggestion by one of their parole officers. Although this may be interpreted as tongue-in-cheek, the band has declared in an interview for InMusicWeTrust.com that, "we're not cholos or gangsters, but we come from that heritage and we're proud of it."

While most of the band's material is delivered with a sense of humor, political undertones do occasionally appear in their music, such as "Get Them Immigrated", a reworking of The Offspring's "Come Out and Play". The track lampoons US border officials and urges immigration from Mexico into the US. Another track, "Poem" from The Menudo Incident, tells a first-hand account of fearing a potential drive-by shooting, told over a doo-wop backing. In addition, their cover of Iggy & The Stooges' "I Got A Right" includes the lyric, "I got a right, got a right to speak/any language I want, yeah." The band also traditionally plays live in California on Cinco de Mayo.[9]

Lineup

  • Mike Gaborno (aka Jefe) - Vocals
  • Steve Soto (aka El Hoakie Loco) - Guitar, Vocals
  • Chino - Drums
  • Mo Grease - Guitar
  • Oso - Bass
  • Mad Ralphie - Vocals
  • Tio - Vocals
  • Efrem Martinez Schulz - Vocals

Discography

  • The Menudo Incident (1992, Doctor Dream Records; Reissued in 2003, BYO Records)
  • The Recline of Mexican Civilization (2001, BYO Records)
  • Mijo Goes to Jr. College (2003, BYO Records)
  • Grupo Sexo (2005, BYO Records)

References

  1. ↑ In Music We Trust
  2. ↑ BYO Records
  3. ↑ In Music We Trust
  4. ↑ In Music We Trust
  5. ↑ MySpace
  6. ↑ Manic Hispanic biography from BYO Records
  7. ↑ AllMusic
  8. ↑ Machete Manufacturing
  9. ↑ OC Weekly

External links

  • Manic Hispanic at MySpace
  • Interview with Mad Ralphie and Tio
  • Manic Hispanic at BYO Records, includes biography
  • Manic Hispanic at AllMusic
  • Official Site (currently offline February 12, 2009)
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