Chicano rock has always been a living archive of California itself—joyful, defiant, cross-cultural, and endlessly reinvented. These five essential tracks trace a lineage that runs through the Eastside ballrooms, backyard parties, and lowrider boulevards. To hear how these voices continue to ripple across the state, visit our Spotify playlist and let California’s Chicano rock story unfold track by track.•
1. “La Bamba”
Ritchie Valens, 1958
2. “Suavecito”
Malo, 1972
3. “Saint Behind the Glass”
Los Lobos, 1992
4. “Planta de los Pies”
Quetzal, 2003
5. “La Jura”
Chicano Batman, 2017
Gustavo Arellano is the author of Orange County: A Personal History and Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America. In 2025, Arellano was named a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his work as a columnist for the Los Angeles Times. He was formerly editor of OC Weekly, an alternative newspaper in Orange County, California, and penned the award-winning ¡Ask a Mexican!, a nationally syndicated column in which he answered any and all questions about America’s spiciest and largest minority. Arellano is the recipient of awards ranging from the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies Best Columnist to the Los Angeles Press Club President’s Award to an Impact Award from the National Hispanic Media Coalition, and he was recognized by the California Latino Legislative Caucus with a 2008 Spirit Award for his “exceptional vision, creativity, and work ethic.” Arellano is a lifelong resident of Orange County and is the proud son of two Mexican immigrants, one of whom came to this country in the trunk of a Chevy.
