Loud Fast Rules
Issue: 8
Released: February 27, 2008

Featured bands:
Dropkick Murphys
Misfits
Clorox Girls
McRad
Tiger Army
Fletcher from Pennywise
The Best Albums Of 1983
A Zillion Others

Back in 1981, when I started the tenth grade, I would wear my hair spiked up in a Darby from Decline/ Sid Vicious type style. I thought it was great. Anyway, right after first period I had what was called “home room,” which you had to attend or you would be marked absent for the day, so I made that class even if I missed everything else that day. In my homeroom I was one of about, maybe five white kids in the class. The classmates of other ethnic backgrounds weren’t particularly fond of the punk look, music or attitude, and they were kind enough to remind me daily. There was one girl who sat in the front of the class named Veronica; Veronica seemed to be the ringleader of the class. She was a “chola,” hair very short, all her clothes were black and gray, and she was deep into the life. Anyway, I was fifteen at the this time, and my Uncle Rick had just bought a Siberian Husky which he named Lobo, which I didn’t know at the time, but it was Spanish for Wolf. After I found out the meaning of Lobo, I saw it tagged all over town.

So, about a week into the first semester of the year Veronica was ranting about punk sucking, and I decided to pull a prank, I told her “I guess you don’t know about me?!” She stopped and said What? I told her that all the Vatos know me around here, they tag my name all over town. She looked kind of startled, and again with What? I explained because of my spiked hair, I resembled a wolf. That people only knew me by reputation. That I have snuck through neighborhoods, and taken on whole gangs, and all people were able to say was “El Lobo.”

Veronica started asking, which gang, which neighborhood, so I rattled off everything I could remember seeing tagged on the walls, and what neighborhoods I saw this stuff. She just smiled and shook her head. I guess it all checked out. She asked if I could tag, I said I didn’t need to, everyone else tagged my name. The next morning she gave me the alphabet in the cholo tag style. I thanked her, and said next time I go out prowling, I’d leave my name “El Lobo.” This pleased her. The following week she left a letter on my desk, assigning me to a gang called “Pacas 13,” I don’t know if that meant I was in the gang or they were sponsoring me or what, but when I was done reading it, I looked over at Veronica and she just nodded. The bottom of the letter was funny; it basically claimed I was not Black or Mexican, but a White Guy.

This El Lobo story started to take on chuppacabras-like proportions by mid-semester. I’d walk through the halls and all the Hispanic guys that were hanging against the walls would stop talking and stare at me as I walked by. At the beginning of the second semester a cholo named Tony came up to me and handed me a two-sided piece of notebook paper, and all he said was “here,” I have no idea what it says, other than that “BVN” is great and Van Nuys is the cool gang. I took the paper from him and nodded, and walked off. I gave it to Veronica the next morning (as she was my recruiting officer) and she was impressed. She explained that this was like their business card, explaining who they were and in a roundabout way they were seeing if I was interested. I never approached them or discussed it. I was into punk; I wasn’t ready to live as El Lobo fulltime.

I saw a picture of Veronica in 1994; she got out of the life, and really looks good. She had one or two kids, and did all right for herself. And El Lobo hasn’t been seen since 1984.

Let’s talk about the magazine . . .

This magazine is by far the best “punk” zine I’ve read sine the early days of Flipside. I used to dig Slash, Flipside, and We Got Power was fun, never a big fan of Maximum Rock & Roll. But Loud Fast Rules is fun, interviews, reviews, pictures, the only thing missing is the long droning letters complaining about the scene, otherwise it could very well be a continuation of Flipside, I take that back . . .most of us spent years reading those whiny letters, Loud Fast Rules did us a favor by leaving the letters out.

On a separate note, my Brother and I are going to be putting on a convention next June (2009), officially titled the Los Angeles Punk Con. We have contacted, about, eight “big” names from the world of American punk, and as soon as we get some confirmations, we’ll announce the names, Mike Ness, unfortunately, declined, and Henry Rollins can’t confirm until the beginning of the year. We are looking for vendors, and sponsors. As we get closer to the date, we will be accepting DVD’s from some local talent to perform. Check out the site, http://lapunkcon.com. Any questions, feel free to write: punk.con@gmail.com.

If you get the chance to get a copy of this, go get it.

Rating: ***** five out of five stars.

Currently:
Reading: Notes of a Dirty Old Man by Charles Bukowski
Listening: The Vandals – Peace through Vandalism
Watching: The Incredible Hulk directed by Louis Leterrier

This was the latest post from Mike E. If you’re going to be in LA next summer (or can get there), check out the convention he’s putting together: