Teenage Alcoholics: Punk Rock in East Los Angeles by Jimmy Alvarado

Teenage Alcoholics: Punk Rock in East Los Angeles Despite decades of witnessing and participating in what I thought was a thriving scene of bands, gigs, and general hellraising, I kept hearing from people no more than a few miles away that they had no idea an eastside punk scene existed. This was usually remedied with a conversation and a homemade cassette “compilation” of tunes culled from personal copies of demos and such.

Jimmy Alvarado has been active in East L.A.’s underground music scene since 1981 as a musician, backyard gig promoter, writer, poet, bouncer, flyer artist, photographer, podcaster, historian and filmmaker. He has authored numerous interviews, articles and short films spotlighting the Eastside scene. He is also a guitarist in the bands Our Band Sucks and La Tuya.

Photographs by Rebecca Minjarez-Rodriguez
Drawing by Tom Ulrich

Originally appeared in Razorcake #3, Aug./Sept. 2001

5.5” x 8.5”
36pp