Follow up to "Mas Alla de los Gritos"

So this is a little bit back in the history of our class but I though I would bring it up again, It relates to the Dahlia Season and a documentary that we were asked to watch outside of class about Latino straight edge hardcore punk music in the US called "Mas Alla de los Gritos". Its made by Martin Sorrondeguy, who was the lead singer of Los Crudos, a pretty influential hardcore band that was around in the 90's. Punk is a genre that gets racialized as white and this documentary is challenging the assumptions that people make about punk music and culture that erases people of color. Hardcore is also a genre of punk that is (in my experience) pretty male dominated and straight. (I do want to acknowledge the queers and women who are involved and find there community here so as not to erase their contributions.) And Martin is someone that I know in real life that I actally associate with another band of his, Limp Wrist, a queer hardcore band that is incredible.

heres a couple videos of them performing. they are amazing and have incredible energy.

Something I find fascinating about both of these bands, Los Crudos and Limp Wrist is that they challenge dominant assumption, stereotypes, and racist/homophobic attitudes about and within these cultures, while at the same time interpollating people who may not have seen themselves as connected to immigrant rights or queer politics. At Limp Wrist shows I see people who identify themselves as straight singing along to lyrics that go, "I love hardcore boys/I love boys hardcore". At the same time it points to the potentially homoerotic nature of mosh pits as being a place where many bodies (but particularly male bodies at hardcore shows) are pressed up against each other and getting pleasure (from the music, from the contact with other fans and the band, from community, and maybe even sexually from someone cute).

I also notice in the Los Crudos footage, kids who I read as white and perhaps not native Spanish speakers (I know this is potentially problematic making these assumptions) singing along in Spanish and feeling the energy that the band is putting out there. These interpollations into scenes, ally-ships, and issues, that perhaps wouldn't have happened alternatively, are rich in potential. Potential for many things, both positive and negative, but hopefully ultimately create a space that doesn't get created very often where people can see themselves as connected to many issues and people that may or may not seem "obvious". Seeing the connections, as well as distances, between Los Crudos and Limpwrist is something incredibly interesting and exciting I think.