Just like Afrobeta's Cuci Amador and Tony Smurphio, we here at Crossfade wanna know ... Do you party?
For the last 72 hours, we've been shakin' ass (and sometimes Scraping Teeth) while snorting skinny lines of pure white SoBe sand off scratched-up slabs by some of our favorite local music crews ever. Like Miami Bass Warriors, Avenue D, and Ricky Rozay's Triple C's.
And today the binge continues ... Just check the cut for numbers 35 to 31 in Crossfade's 50 Best Miami Bands of All Time.
35. Quit
These pop-punks had the late '90s sound down since 1988. A mix of buzzsaw guitars and powerful melodies made them one of the most popular and beloved bands at Washington Square and Churchill's Pub. And besides breaking up (then reuniting) every other year from 1995 to 2006, Quit kicked ass for two decades.
If you heard these guys before Green Day, Blink 182, NOFX, Pennywise, or any other band on Epitaph, Fat Wreck, or Lookout, you would've sworn all those famous Cali outfits were ripping off Quit. It's hard to say why they aren't as big as their outside-of-Florida contemporaries. They had the hooks, they were handsome. But they were six years ahead of their time and too far from SoCal. And maybe their pitch-perfect pop-punk was just a little too sweet for the end of the hair metal era and the dawning of grunge. -- Jose Flores
34. Young and Restless
Assembled by the late Sam "P-Man" Ferguson of Triple M DJs/Worse Em Crew fame, youthful duo Charles "Dr. Ace" Trahan and Leonerist "Prince P" Johnson" (who would later become the first artist signed to Poe Boy Entertainment, under the name The P.O.D.) offered a decidedly PG-13 alternative to the X-rated Miami bass sound during the genre's early 1990s heyday. Young and Restless had a handful of regional hits during its run, including a cover of The Coasters' R&B classic "Poison Ivy," but 1990's "B Girls" was the pair's masterpiece, a hilarious send-up of gold-digging groupies only after "Broncos, Benz, BMWs, bass, bangles, and a pair of bars," all set to a beat that sounded like what Rick Rubin might have come up with after a night at Pac-Jam. -- Jesse Serwer
33. The Reactions
Like a gang of sweet innocent kids on amphetamines, The Reactions streaked onto the SoFla scene in 1979, playing slightly fuzzy, sing-along punk songs about long weekends, young love, and the suckiness of society. With Isaac Baruch on guitar, the late Johnny Salton on bass, Tony Supa on vocals, and Joey Maya on drums, this outfit only lasted till '81. Yet in that speedy 24-month spree, Baruch and crew issued two self-released seven-inches (1980's Official Release and 1981's Love You), recorded some extra stuff, and mastered the art of the unthreateningly anarchic early-'80s pop-punk anthem. (Thankfully, this two-year slice of Miami music history has been appropriately anthologized by Cheap Rewards Records.) And today, the Japanese still love The Reactions. The record nerds still love The Reactions. We still love The Reactions. -- S. Pajot
32. Afrobeta
Just as Otto Von Schirach and his Warriors were Miami bass's best chance of making a comeback in the new millenium, Afrobeta's Cuci Amador and Tony Smurphio have long been 305 freestyle's most promising shot at total party dominance in the 2000s. Ever since Cuci "approached Tony [six years ago] at a Suenalo show after their set was up" and "was like, 'Wow! You're awesome!,'" this twosome's been blending "romance/electro/funk" with Parliament and Expose and Bobby Brown and rave music and indie-dance shit. The result: The Do You Party EP, an excellent full-length entitled Under the Streets, this year's Wig Party, and an almost annual slot at Ultra Music Festival as well as gigs with Glastonbury, Burning Man, and the inaugural edition of the Identity Festival. Basically ... "Afrobeta is Miami." And they're exporting this party to the rest of Planet Earth. -- S. Pajot
31. Cavity
There was never any option besides surrender with Cavity's Drop-G sludge. Even if you resisted, the thick oozing feedback and hissing cymbals inevitably took over, reducing your mind and body to quivering jelly. The only permanent member, bassist Dan Gorostiaga, led this crew with machine-like pick work and Sabbath-on-Xanax grooves. Sometimes, sometimes-lead-singer Rene Barge would whip his flaccid penis out on stage. Sometimes, sometimes-guitarist Ed Matus would kick him as he tried to stroke his member. It was genuinely scary and brutal.
Oh, and you can play the game "Six Degrees of Cavity" with your friends. It's easy once you take into account that members of this band were also in Waterford Landing, Subliminal Criminal, The Crumbs, The Peckers, The Heatseekers, Torche, Panda Bite, Floor, Monstro, Beings, Holly Hunt, and Black Cobra, just to name a few. -- Jose Flores
Check out the other installments of Crossfade's 50 Best Miami Bands of All Time:
-From 50 to 46: Scraping Teeth, Frank Williams & The Rocketeers, Iko Iko, ANR, Miami Bass Warriors
-From 45 to 41: Nuclear Valdez, The Goods, Locos Por Juana, Cynic, Avenue D
-From 40 to 36: The Agency, Pygmy, Suenalo, Triple C's, The Crumbs
-From 35 to 31: Quit, Young and Restless, The Reactions, Afrobeta, Cavity
-From 25 to 21: Critical Mass, Phoenicia, The Dogs, Chickenhead, Floor
-From 20 to 16: Buckwheat Boyz, The Mavericks, Against All Authority, T-Connection, The Eat
-From 10 to 6: Murk, NRBQ, Exposé, Poison Clan, Load
-From 5 to 1: KC and the Sunshine Band, Sam & Dave, Harry Pussy, Miami Sound Machine, 2 Live Crew
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