Razteca versions with Quinto Sol

ILLUSTRATION by LUKE MCGARRY

So Bob Marley took a trip down Whittier Boulevard, and there waiting was Quinto Sol, a nine-piece (Mizraim Leal, Javier Villalobos, Martin Perez, Cesar Villalobos, Abel Gonzalez, Armando Padilla, Mando Gonzalez, Bernie Bran, and Sal Magallon, plus a quintet of auxiliaries as demanded) reggae-centered band that started out as punker kids in East LA and switched transmission when they heard their first Marley songs. Slash mag’s Claude Bessy might have seen the same connection 15 years before between Plugz and Tappa Zukie, but for Quinto Sol, it was explicitly about common consciousness. Razteca, guitarist/singer Leal told documentarian Panquetzani—‘Rastafarian’ plus ‘azteca’ as shorthand for this combination of the Abyssinians (see a few weeks back) and anarchy, which adapted rapidly and naturally to the political potential of reggae music. Two independent albums and a third (Spirits of the Martyrs, with lead single “Moonlight”) on the way present Quinto Sol as a group both strictly studied—they’re faithful and diligent in their attention to the reggae composition basics—and fluid. Like one-time award-competitors Very Be Careful, they loop in influences so diverse as to be almost contradictory, with sets that could put Studio One-style roots (or dub treatments courtesy Scientist) and pounder punk in immediate sequence, but force of conviction and personality makes a sound that still makes sense.

QUINTO SOL WITH GUESTS TBA THE RHYTHM LOUNGE | 245 PINE AVE | LONG BEACH 90802 | SAT 8PM | CONTACT VENUE FOR COVER | 21+ | RHYTHM-LOUNGE.COM

Tags: Long Beach, razteca, rhythm lounge, Whittier