That sort of music has been associated with CBGB since 1974, when guitarists Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd were looking for a place for their edgy new band Television to play. Soon a supportive audience and then other bands, including the Patti Smith Group, the Ramones, Mink DeVille, and Talking Heads, established a beachhead there, and punk's attack on corporate rock was launched. I was used to hearing great players at the Village Vanguard, who were really technically advanced. These kids needed to learn to play their instruments, and over time they did, but right from the beginning they really had something to say. Wives and Ricanstruction are better players than the original punk-rock bands.
Wives are very smart and hard and direct.
Well, a Latino punk-rock band with their kind of message has a hard row to plow. I'm willing to give them and Wives a start at making records and see what happens. I got fed up dealing with major labels. They drop bands without giving them a chance, all kinds of politics are involved when it comes to them marketing records. God, I sit right by the door here, and I hear the bands talking to Louise Parnassa, who books the bands here and works with me on the label, and there are so many horror stories about dealings with the majors.