Image courtesy of Nuestro Stories.
Latinas in Punk. It might sound like an oxymoron, but it’s not. Latina women played a crucial role in the emergence and development of the punk scene. The three most salient are Teresa Covarrubias of The Brat, Alice Bags of The Bags, and Patricia Moreno, aka “Zappa Punk.”
Let’s start with The Brat
The Brat was a Chicano punk rock ensemble born in East Los Angeles, California, and formed by three core members — lead singer Teresa Covarrubias, lead guitarist Rudy Medina, and alternate lead and rhythm guitarist Sidney Medina.
The Brat began in late 1978 and eventually broke up in 1986, but not before establishing what became known as the Chicano (East LA) punk sound. In the 1980s, The Brat ruled East L.A.’s music underground and released their only EP, “Attitudes,” before they went their separate ways. They were political and influential – loud and fast and then gone.
The Bags
Bags (also known as The Bags or Alice Bag Band) were an American punk rock band formed in 1977, one of the first generations of punk rock bands to come straight out of Los Angeles. The band played their first concert at The Masque, but altercations often marred their shows. Alicia “Alice” Armendariz, known professionally as Alice Bag, was the lead singer and co-founder of the Bags, together with Patricia Morrison.
Armendariz, a singer, musician, author, educator, and feminist archivist met Morrison while waiting in line to see Elton John perform. They became friends and formed a band called Femme Fatale, which later became The Bags. They took the gimmick – playing with a paper bag over their head – and became “Alice Bag” and “Pat Bag.”
In 1978, they released their only single called “Survive.” They split up soon after. In 2011 Alice Bag published her memoir Violence Girl: East L.A. Rage to Hollywood Stage, A Chicana Punk Story.
‘La Zappa,’ ‘Virginidad Sacudida’ y ‘SS-20’
La Zappa, or Patricia Moreno, was central to the punk scene in Mexico. Almost a decade before the rise of the riot grrrl scene in Latinamerica, bands led by women wanted their voices heard — and loud — in a machista society. One of these bands was Virginidad Sacudida, a Mexican band born in the 1980s in Mexico City.
It was the first Mexican punk band composed of women and was fronted by lead singer Patricia Moreno, better known as “La Zappa.” Her name honors US musician Frank Zappa and her own family — who worked with shoes and leather. (In Spanish, shoe is Zapato.)
When asked in an interview to describe punk, Moreno said:
“Punk is freedom; it is anti-nuclear arms, anti-cruelty to animal…it is compared to anarchy because norms do not govern it, and we are searching for freedom and a different world than what is established,” she said.
The three pink musicians highlighted here refused to settle for the pace imposed by men in rock. Instead, they opted to express themselves as women.
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