2025 Al Lowman Memorial Prize, Texas State Historical Association

An immersive study of the influential and predominantly Chicanx punk rock scene in El Paso, Texas.

Punk rock is known for its daring subversion, and so is the West Texas city of El Paso. In Chuco Punk, Tara LÓpez dives into the rebellious sonic history of the city, drawing on more than seventy interviews with punks, as well as unarchived flyers, photos, and other punk memorabilia. Connecting the scene to El Paso's own history as a borderland, a site of segregation, and a city with a long lineage of cultural and musical resistance, LÓpez throws readers into the heat of backyard punx shows, the chaos of riots in derelict mechanic shops, and the thrill of skateboarding on the roofs of local middle schools. She reveals how, in this predominantly Chicanx punk rock scene, women forged their own space, sound, and community. Covering the first roots of Chuco punk in the late 1970s through the early 2000s, LÓpez moves beyond the breakout bands to shed light on how the scene influenced not only the contours of sound and El Paso but the entire topography of punk rock.

[LÓpez] explores the motivations behind the music, highlighting the need for creative expression as a platform for unheard voices. (The Cosmic Clash) Excellent. (Aquarium Drunkard Book Club)

Tara LÓpez is an assistant professor of ethnic studies at Winona State University and the author of The Winter of Discontent: Myth, Memory, and History.