IN THE GARAGE, VOL. 3: The Romancers

The Romancers were a garage rock band that existed during the pivotal '60s era of garage rock. They apparently hold the distinction of being the very first East L.A. Chicano band to lay music to tape. The band's first album, Do the Slauson, was completed in a mere five hours. Band leader, primary songwriter, and rhythm guitarist Max Uballez was not only instrumental in crafting his band's sound, he also played a major part in helping to form the sound of the East L.A. scene. Uballez became a sort of local star in his own right, releasing music under his name with The Romancers serving as a backing band. He was sometimes mistaken as Ritchie Valens, pioneer and a forefather of the Chicano rock movement (dude wrote "La Bamba" c'mon!), which no doubt helped raise his, as well as the band's, profile quite a bit.


Check out two high energy tracks below: 1966's "She Took My Oldsmobile" and 1965's "Love's The Thing."