Here's something you might be interested in.
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed
Big Screen — Movie commentary
Blurt — Music's inside track
Booze News — San Diego spirits
Classical Music — Immortal beauty
Classifieds — Free and easy
Cover Stories — Front-page features
Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes
Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts
Feast! — Food & drink reviews
Feature Stories — Local news & stories
Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore
From the Archives — Spotlight on the past
Golden Dreams — Talk of the town
The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it
Letters — Our inbox
Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites
Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans
Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists
Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news
News Ticker — News & politics
Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated
Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna
Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated
Poetry — The old and the new
Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers
Reading — The hunt for intellectuals
Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails
San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds
SD on the QT — Almost factual news
Sheep and Goats — Places of worship
Special Issues — The best of
Street Style — San Diego streets have style
Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves
Theater — On stage in San Diego this week
Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative
Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work
Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego
Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads
Your Week — Daily event picks
Zeros
An article in L.A. Weekly recently declared the Zeros the “hands-down top-dog punk-rock band of the ’77 West Coast conflagration,” specifically singling them out as better than X, the band that usually gets the crown. Listening to some of the Zeros’ classic tracks, I’m not sure I agree. Even inarguably great songs such as “Don’t Push Me Around,” “Wimp,” and “Beat Your Heart Out” were held back by sloppy musicianship. But listening to the recordings I’ve heard of the Zeros’ recent reunion shows, I think maybe the L.A. Weekly’s right. The Zeros’ songs were inspired by ’60s garage rock, filtered through a ’70s punk sensibility, and are now played with a 21st-century professionalism. The result is that they sound timeless.
The Zeros started playing in 1976 in a trailer behind the Chula Vista home of singer-guitarist Javier Escovedo, who is part of the musical family that includes singer-songwriter Alejandro, former Dragons leader Mario, Latin jazz king Pete, and R&B star Sheila E. The next year, as punk rock exploded, the band quickly got tagged “the Mexican Ramones” and rose to the top of the heap. The Germs’ first show was opening for the Zeros.
A few years later it was over, and the band members went their separate ways. Second singer-guitarist Robert Lopez went on to a brilliant career as El Vez, “the Mexican Elvis.” Bassist-vocalist Hector Penalosa was in criminally neglected ’80s jangle-poppers Flying Color. And Escovedo has a solo career. The Zeros have reunited briefly several times over the years, but this time, 32 years after the peak of their fame, they may stick around for a while.
ZEROS: The Casbah, Saturday, August 22, 8:30 p.m. 619-232-4355. $12.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Zeros
Zeros
An article in L.A. Weekly recently declared the Zeros the “hands-down top-dog punk-rock band of the ’77 West Coast conflagration,” specifically singling them out as better than X, the band that usually gets the crown. Listening to some of the Zeros’ classic tracks, I’m not sure I agree. Even inarguably great songs such as “Don’t Push Me Around,” “Wimp,” and “Beat Your Heart Out” were held back by sloppy musicianship. But listening to the recordings I’ve heard of the Zeros’ recent reunion shows, I think maybe the L.A. Weekly’s right. The Zeros’ songs were inspired by ’60s garage rock, filtered through a ’70s punk sensibility, and are now played with a 21st-century professionalism. The result is that they sound timeless.
The Zeros started playing in 1976 in a trailer behind the Chula Vista home of singer-guitarist Javier Escovedo, who is part of the musical family that includes singer-songwriter Alejandro, former Dragons leader Mario, Latin jazz king Pete, and R&B star Sheila E. The next year, as punk rock exploded, the band quickly got tagged “the Mexican Ramones” and rose to the top of the heap. The Germs’ first show was opening for the Zeros.
A few years later it was over, and the band members went their separate ways. Second singer-guitarist Robert Lopez went on to a brilliant career as El Vez, “the Mexican Elvis.” Bassist-vocalist Hector Penalosa was in criminally neglected ’80s jangle-poppers Flying Color. And Escovedo has a solo career. The Zeros have reunited briefly several times over the years, but this time, 32 years after the peak of their fame, they may stick around for a while.
ZEROS: The Casbah, Saturday, August 22, 8:30 p.m. 619-232-4355. $12.
Comments