Los Infernos
Los Infernos were half sock hop and half circle pit. Cow punk, psychobilly. It’s easy to get caught up making hyphenated run-on genres but it’s all just a less elegant way to say that Los Infernos were a rock and roll band. They shimmied and swung at breakneck pace. They weren’t inventing the wheel with their drive fast dead end love lost lyrics, but it was executed well and did the trick.
Formed around 1994 in Riverside, the band featured Derek Coon on vocals, Matt Beld on guitar and vocals, Danny Manuel on bass and vocals, and Vince Maldonado on rhythm guitar. They went through drummers like Spinal Tap, with Armando Soto and Mando Del Rio among those who held the position. After Jello Biafra caught their scorching set in Denver, he signed them to Alternative Tentacles. Los Infernos released “Planet Kaos!” in 1996 on Doctor Dream Records, followed by “Rock and Roll Nightmare” in 2000 on Alternative Tentacles. They rode loud and fast and excellent stage shows on tours all over America, sharing bills with Reverend Horton Heat, Supersuckers, and Agent Orange, exporting the grottier side of Southern California. The band went on hiatus sometime after 2002.
