I'll never forget the first time I heard punk music. I was young, growing up in a country on the verge of collapse. One afternoon, I needed to buy some tights for gymnastics, and the nearest place that sold them was a record store near my house. I walked in feeling terribly uncool — a bit intimidated by the T-shirts adorned with skulls and big bold letters, depicting bands I'd never heard before. I was taken aback by the most raucous, disrespectful, cocky, angry, beautiful sound I'd ever heard. What is that? I asked the clerk. That, I was told, was The Sex Pistols. I'd never heard music that described so deeply everything I was feeling, and everything that was happening around me.
Over the years, I discovered that punk wasn't just emaciated white guys mouthing off in English, although I never stopped loving the Pistols. There were also women, African Americans and Latinos, and they sung in all languages, including my own. But they all had a certain kind of rebelliousness in common: an attitude, a fight for survival and a wicked sense of humor.
This week on Alt.Latino, we have the pleasure of speaking to a group of women who embody new punk, musically and culturally. The band Fea is Latina punk at its finest, featuring members of Girl In A Coma and with a new album co-produced by legendary rocker Alice Bag. Its songs are about issues that often get brushed off: what it means to be a young Latina in the U.S. today, beauty standards, the role of women. Tune in as we tackle those topics and more.
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