Editor’s note: Calendar Editor Angie Stevens interviewed Los Yesterdays for this week’s music column.
“Bad Vic” Benavides is unabashedly honest—he can’t really play an instrument. He would rather be making music in the studio than performing onstage. And sometimes, in a band as revered as Los Yesterdays, he’s overrun with imposter syndrome and left feeling like the “Ringo Starr” of the group.
But what Benavides, lead singer of the LA-based Chicano soul band, can do—and do well—is write songs. As a hopeless romantic, his many relationships-turned-heartbreaks have led to some of his best work.
Take “Mr. Yesterday,” a song heavily inspired by the sound of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons that he wrote in 2020 after a bad break with a woman he loved. Benavides chuckled as he recalled the story of a mutual friend of Los Yesterdays drummer and co-founder Gabriel Rowland hearing the track and ensuring that Rowland stayed around Benavides—not to console him, necessarily, but to be there when all of his ideas were flowing.
Or take the 2021 track “Nobody’s Clown,” the band’s biggest hit with more than 30 million streams on Spotify. It came to life in seven minutes following another unfortunate romantic ending.
“Once I knew what the words were, I knew the song as if I’d heard it a thousand times,” Benavides said.
When he’s not in a good place mentally, he said that “everything takes on a particular poignancy.” When his conscious mind is distracted, he said he can pull songs “out of the ether” and “hear the muse easier.”
Writing lyrics has been a part of Benavides life since he was 5 years old, playing around with songs in his head. He remembers reveling in any chance to stay home from his father and brother’s fishing adventures and spend the day with his mother, putting on records and listening to 8-tracks.
“I don’t have kids, I have my songs,” Benavides said.
The songwriting stuck even after he decided to retire from performing—a decision made after three decades in the music scene, when his prior bands never gained traction. But in 2017, Rowland got him to write lyrics for commercial TV jingles, and soon the nostalgia of growing up as young Chicanos in LA pushed them to go further as a two-piece.
One can feel the summer sweet memories of backyard gatherings without being there; the tinges of inspiration that came from Benavides and Rowland listening to Art Laboe on the radio and the sweet soul tracks of the ’50s and ’60s.
The track “Mr. Yesterday” caught the ears of producers and musicians Tommy Brenneck and Gabriel Roth, who were just creating Penrose Records, the Chicano-focused Daptone imprint.
Benavides and Rowland were invited to perform at a Penrose barbecue. Benavides wrote the lyrics to their newest instrumental during his 20-minute drive from Altadena and arrived ready to perform the song that became “Time.”
The track became the band’s first Penrose single, and by 2018, Los Yesterdays came to include Brenneck and Roth.
The band’s first headliner tour will begin in Santa Barbara on July 25 and end in Seattle in early August, and Los Yesterdays is set to hit the stage of San Luis Obispo’s Fremont Theater on Thursday, July 31 (all-ages; doors at 7 p.m., show at 8; $37.56 at fremontslo.com), with The Jack Moves, Jackie Mendez, and The Silvertone opening.
The audience will hear tracks from the band’s 2024 debut album Frozen in Time and may get a taste of the new spoken word protest song they plan to release soon titled “God is Watching.” It was written, Benavides explained, in response to the government targeting Hispanics and to push for solidarity.
Leaving room for love on the dance floor is also what Benavides yearns for.
“I want people to feel the love,” he said. “I want them to stare into their lady’s eyes and dance with them.”
—Angie Stevens
Big in Japan
Calling all ironic hipsters. Bargain Rock SLO presents an earful of super cool music when Sweet Springs Saloon hosts a four-band extravaganza of surf, garage, and fantasy metal music when Jackie & the Cedrics headlines a show with openers Not Yetis, The Teutonics, and The Khans on Friday, Aug. 1 (8 p.m.; 21-and-older; $20 at bargainrock.net).
Jackie & the Cedrics are a super cool Japanese instrumental surf rock trio that wears fancy outfits and plays cool vintage equipment. They’ve been around since the early ’90s and used to tour the U.S. regularly, but not so much lately, so this will be a rare chance to see them locally.
According to The Teutonics, “We live in the San Francisco Bay Area, but originally from Ostfriesland. We have lived here so long, we do not speak German anymore. We are German recording artist for Repent Records. Many years we have made music, and now we are putting it here so people may have the recordings in [an] easy modern way.”
Not Yetis are an Oakland-based guitar-driven garage rock act inspired by 1960s cartoon bands. This super group includes Rick Kvoriak (Shitty Shitty Band Band, Ogres), Steve Faine (Hi-Fives, Ogres) Lucy Watusi (Hondettes), and Dr. Patrick Phelan (Brentwoods, Saturn V featuring Orbit), and their super good album, A Cautionary Tale, will afford you extra cool points if you add it to your collection. 180-gram vinyl, baby!
The Khans include former SLO Town resident Kai Wada Roath, who once got Foster Freeze to sponsor a trip to the Himalayas to search for Yetis. Sadly, he did not find one.
“I like to think that if a He-Man had a 1980s evil Mongol warlord villain, we would be his theme music,” he said. “Our music is 1970s fantasy metal from the Gobi Desert, themed with such hits as ‘Mongolian Death Worm,’ ‘Five Kings of the Altai,’ the ‘Flaming Red Cliffs of Grimlock,’ and our top-40 hit, ‘Mongolian Beef’!”
Be there or be L7.
Golden anniversary
Local NPR affiliate KCBX celebrates its 50th anniversary at the Octagon Barn (4400 Octagon Way, SLO) on Saturday, July 26, with a free daytime outdoor concert featuring New Times Music Awards 2021 Album of the Year award winner Graybill and energetic old timey string band SLO County Stumblers between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. (an RSVP is requested at kcbx.org). There’s also food and drink available from Choco’s Mexican Grill food truck, SLO Sichuan Kitchen, and Harmony Valley Creamery.
Later that evening, enjoy an indoor concert by Damon Castillo & Friends (7 p.m.; all ages; $46.80 at kcbx.org or zeffy.com).
“I’m incredibly honored to be part of this one-of-a-kind night celebrating 50 years of KCBX—our beloved local public radio station,” Castillo said. “I’ll be joined by a truly special lineup of talented friends: Kahonukai Boro, Jineanne Coderre, Gabriela Welch, Sean Sullivan, and Brian Lanzone. You won’t want to miss this musical collaboration!”
Something for everyone
Numbskull and Good Medicine have indie rock, ska, reggae, and soul shows this week, so pick your poison.
Berkeley-based emo-rockers Mom Jeans bring their quirky and catchy songs about serious issues like suicide (“death cup”) and loneliness (“*Sobs quietly*”) to the Alex Madonna Expo Center this Friday, July 25 (6 p.m.; all ages; $43.77 at goodmedicinepresents.com) with Saturdays at Your Place and Sad Park opening. Bring tissues and be ready to pogo.
Super awesome two-tone ska act The English Beat returns to The Siren on Sunday, July 27 (7 p.m.; 21-and-older; $40.89 at goodmedicinepresents.com). They were my high school soundtrack, and frontman Dave Wakeling sounds as good as ever. So many classic songs! “Mirror in the Bathroom,” “Save it for Later,” “I Confess,” “Stand Down Margaret,” and their killer take on the Andy William-penned “Can’t Get Used To Losing You.” Love them!
Bob Marley progeny Julian Marley and the Uprising plays the BarrelHouse Amphitheatre on Sunday, July 27 (6 p.m.; all ages; $41.92 at goodmedicinepresents.com). Julian was only six when his father passed. The self-taught musician plays bass, drums, guitar, and keyboards. He released his debut album, Lion in the Morning, in 1996, and in 1998, he contributed to Lauryn Hill’s Grammy-winning album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
Soul acts The Altons and Thee Sinseers share the bill at Santa Maria’s Presqu’ile Winery on Wednesday, July 30 (6 p.m.; all ages; $47.07 at goodmedicinepresents.com). They’re basically the same core band, but after The Altons plays a set, The Sinseers add brass to the mix. Both sound amazing.
Tucson surf rats
The Hawthorne Experience comes to The Siren on Friday, July 25 (7:30 p.m.; 21-and-older; free) to play a funky reggae surf rock show. The band formed at the University of Arizona when brothers Will and Kenny Belcher were joined by Jonah Walsh-Hallman. They’ve gone from playing house parties and keggers to The Siren. Expect originals mixed with cover songs by Arctic Monkeys, Tame Impala, and Sublime.
Hot jazz, kittens
The Basin Street Regulars Hot Jazz Club has an extra spicy show this week when Tom Rigney and Flambeau play the Pismo Beach Vets Hall on Sunday, July 27 (11 a.m. jam with concert starting at 12:30 p.m.; all ages; $35 general admission at my805tix.com). Rigney is an incredible roots music fiddler specializing in “blazing Cajun two-steps, low-down blues, funky New Orleans grooves, boogie-woogie piano, and heartbreakingly beautiful ballads and waltzes,” according to organizers.
Ready For Benny, a tribute to Benny Goodman, opens the show.
Blues rock and ha-ha
Nederlander Concerts has a blues rock icon and a very funny lady coming to Vina Robles Amphitheatre next week. Joe Bonamassa started his career as a 12-year-old opening for B.B. King. He plays Vina on Friday, Aug. 1 (8 p.m.; all ages; $83.80 to $306.50 at ticketmaster.com). He’s now got 17 albums under his belt, most recently Breakthrough (2025).
Comedienne Anjelah Johnson-Reyes stops at Vina on The Family Reunion Tour on Saturday, Aug. 2 (8 p.m.; all ages; $60.10 to $179 at ticketmaster.com). The actress, author, and podcaster’s comedy career ignited after her “Nail Salon” stand-up bit went viral on YouTube over a decade ago. Her comedy special, Say I Won’t, recorded at Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium, racked up nearly 6 million views on YouTube. Δ
Contact Arts Editor Glen Starkey at gstarkey@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in 55 Fiction 2025.