NYC rockers Mala Vista are keeping the sound of '77 alive
The New York punk scene may be as diverse as the city itself, percolating with everything from oi to hardcore, merengue punk to a genre-bending version of the B-52s and even more avant garde stuff this writer isn’t hip enough to know about. Mala Vista have carved a niche in this multifarious cacophony, carrying the torch of melodic punk made popular by the city’s denizens way back in the superbad 1970s.
Named for their “bad outlook” and, partially, in reference to Buena Vista Social Club, Mala Vista’s hooky, occasionally snotty and speedy sound conjures the Clash, Eddy and the Hot Rods, Buzzcocks and hometown heroes the Ramones. And that’s exactly how guitarist and singer Myke Miranda envisioned it eight years ago, when he put up an ad on Craigslist.
“After I moved to New York [from San Antonio] I started putting out ads for a band saying ‘I’m a singer-guitarist looking for bass and drums, possibly second guitar, to form a ’77 punk-influenced rock and roll band’,” Miranda says. Bassist/backing vocalist Manuel Labour was coming off of a break from playing, and Miranda’s ad was the first he responded to. “The ad stood out to me because of the references; all the other stuff that was listed was really, really bad.”
Fast forward to now, and Labour and Miranda — along with guitarist Erik LAMF and drummer Ben Heymann — are fixtures in a leathered, feathered and studded niche of New York garage punk. You can catch them regularly at venues like TV Eye, headlining bills or providing support for garage legends like the Mummies, the Kids and, recently, a reconstituted Exploding Hearts.
As of March 1, the quartet are fresh off the release of “Fun Time,” their sophomore LP, dedicated to Miranda’s lifelong friend Elliot Ramirez, a San Antonio bassist who passed away just before the album’s release.
The album reflects the ethos and sound of one of Mala Vista’s idols: the Clash. “They always worked the hardest,” Labour says. “You could hate our band, but we put in the work. You can never say we sound bad. There’s also a certain level of genuineness to the band. We don’t really like any gimmicks or anything; we’re pretty much just straightforward trying to do it the way it was done, and keep that tradition alive.”
Over the course of nine tracks and a tight 22 minutes, Mala Vista takes you through a whirlwind of glammy-drummed rockers, power chord kiss-offs and blitzkrieg-worthy bops. One of the highlights of “Fun Times” is “Juana La Cubana,” a catchy love song they’ve been playing since their inception in 2016, back when Mala Vista was a three-piece playing the back bar at Freddy’s in South Slope.
“It’s one that has evolved with us; it’s an indication of how we’ve grown as musicians and friends,” says Labour, adding that there’s an Easter egg in the song featuring his fiancée Vanessa Gualdron (herself a DJ and musician with Wanda Jackson cover band The Wand-ers). “We’ve built this little family. We’re always trying to hit the mark in terms of capturing that sound, and I feel like that’s probably the one that we’ve hit closest.”
“Fun Time” was recorded over two years, mostly prior to and during the pandemic. Songs like “Die Waiting” are a chronicle of the time — a time when Mala Vista, like many bands, found their trajectory unexpectedly stalled. “It was definitely a much longer process than we had hoped for,” Miranda recalls, adding that “Fun Time” was recorded at NY HED Studios, the first time the band had a proper recording session.
Which isn’t to say Mala Vista’s previous releases were shoddy or poorly received. In 2020, English label No Front Teeth Records released the band’s debut: “Rough & Toothless” (the label also re-released the band’s self-titled debut EP). Two additional singles — “In the Dark” and “Dirty by the Dozen” — also appear on “Fun Time.” In between all the releases, the group has built a community of rockers across the country.
“We’re fortunate to have this be part of a really cool community [of] lots of like-minded folks who happen to be able to bring really cool bands through and have been able to point us in the right direction,” Miranda says. He and Labour point to groups like L.A.’s Tenement Rats and Ingrates, London’s The Speedways, Ontario group Tommy and the Commies, Ravagers from Baltimore, Vamonos from Denver, as well as NYC locals Baby Shakes.
Miranda also works at TV Eye, which has afforded him a perch from which to observe the scene. “The punk scene is huge, and it’s mostly hardcore punk and that sort of thing,” he says. “It’s really cool to see younger people getting involved, not only musically but politically, in organizing benefit shows and that sort of thing.”
While local tastes lean toward faster, harder punk and metal (often played by musicians born closer to the millennium), Mala Vista remain committed to their sound.”We’re just using a different style to sort of convey very similar things [as these other groups].” Adds Labour, “There are times when I wonder if this is limiting. But the thing is, we love that sound genuinely; we love playing it. And I think that keeps it fresh for us.”
Mala Vista have also kept it fresh by covering other groups at the New York Night Train’s annual Haunted Hop, where local bands cosplay their punk heroes. “I love Halloween stuff, it’s my favorite holiday,” says Labour. Over the years, they’ve performed as The Damned, The Ramones, The Kids and The Undertones, where they dressed like cavemen.
Another of the band’s high points was performing at a screening of “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School,” where they got to meet Ramones tour manager Monte Melnick and director Allan Arkush. But one of their biggest moments came in September 2022, when Labour got engaged on stage at Our Wicked Lady.
“We did a Ramones cover and because Vanessa had played originally in the first Halloween [Hop] Ramones cover band, we got her to play a song. While she was singing, I pulled my plug out and got on one knee and proposed to her,” Labour says. “It’s a cool experience to share with the person I love and also my band.”
For all the tear-jerking, freewheeling live injection of punk, Mala Vista are already looking toward the future. They’ve been playing new material for the past six months, and have an EP’s worth of songs ready to go — after they tour “Fun Time,” that is.
Rest assured, Mala Vista won’t let you die waiting for their next salvo.