MACLA’s ‘San Jose Spic Core Fest’ has kick-started a budding Latino punk-rock movement locally. All over the country, a fast, loud and political music movement is demanding: ‘En Espanol!’

“The noise on South First Street””the constant hum of traffic, the cars and trucks speeding through the twilight””cannot suppress the sound. Approaching the Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana, or MACLA, the signs of a teen punk rock show seem familiar, and yet different. Mostly Latino punks lean up against the walls outside or hang around in nearby parking lots. They are dressed nearly the same: tight black jeans, pegged work pants or cut-off shorts, Chuck Taylor tennis shoes and faded T-shirts. Some bob their heads to the beat; others just stare off into space, lost in a teenage day dream.

Stepping up off the concrete, through the building’s entrance and into the small sound space, the floor tom hits the chest and guitar notes pierce the ear. Drums and bass compete to be heard over feedback from a guitar amplifier. The air is sticky with heat and perspiration.”

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