• Reviews

• All
• Music
• DVDs
• Live
• Cinema
• TV
• Books
• Comic Books
• Video Games

The Zeros

Apr 04, 2025 By Matthew Berlyant Photography by Matthew Berlyant Web Exclusive

File this one under things I thought I’d never be able to see, even if this wasn’t technically the same Zeros line-up that last came here in 2009 to play the much-missed Brooklyn club Southpaw. Let me explain. Sometime since then, the legendary Chula Vista, CA punk pioneers (early on known as The Mexican Ramones) splintered in two, with only founding members Javier Escovedo (guitar/vocals) and Baba Chenelle (drums) remaining and the other two (original bassist Hector Penalosa and original guitarist Robert Lopez, aka El Vez, the Mexican Elvis) continuing (somewhat confusingly) as Zeros 77. As such, the guitar slot on this evening was filled by Dave Garman, and the bass slot, normally filled by Hector’s brother Victor, on this night was taken by Shane Grass. Both, as it turned out, proved to be fine replacements for Lopez and Penalosa.

In other words, this lineup smoked, playing every late seventies classic that old fans would want such as “Beat Your Heart Out” (the A-side of their second single, much later covered by The Muffs), “Wimp,” “Don’t Push Me Around” and even a cover of The Standells’ “Sometimes Good Guys Don’t Wear White” (released as a single on the venerable Spanish label Munster in 1994). And given the relatively short set, everyone in attendance was still satisfied by the time the closer, an appropriately “wild” version of 1978 second single Bomp B-side “Wild Weekend,” stopped ringing from the speakers.