Inside The Noise Floor: Nox Civitas — Puño Sin Pulso (SUB007)
Nox Civita’s hometown Tijuana is a city of contradictions where neon lights flicker against walls built to divide — an apt backdrop for a punk rebellion.
Without a sprawl of noise, poverty, and excitement, punk cannot exist. You don’t see any punk bands coming out of Vatican City. Tijuana has the opposite vibe — concrete and echo, starving kids, and a ton of volatility. It’s amid this tense backdrop that Nox Civitas took shape.
“In Tijuana, the songs write themselves. All you have to do is carve one out of the street.”
Formed during the insipid epoch (COVID) just as 80% of the world’s population decided that martial law was a good idea, Nox Civitas (Jake Vala — vocals/guitar, Roddy Rodriguez — vocals/bass, and Nox Nix — drums) lifted themselves out the negativity by re-learning the instruments they were taught in their youth, and recording two songs highlighting the plight of the Jodido (struggling Mexican). What began as rough sessions in the Vala garage turned into something sharper and more defined, a tight-knit band built around instinct.
As such, the trio’s debut 7”, Puño Sin Pulso/Cuatro Cuadras Pa’bajo (Fist Without A Pulse/Four Blocks Down) was recorded in Tijuana during the height of the pandemic — two tracks of pure tension and release.
“It’s the sound of stolen gear and a garage with a low ceiling covered in salt and mould. Not quite poverty, but close. ”
The limitations become the message. The beauty of the Puño Sin Pulso/Cuatro Cuadras Pa’bajo 7” is that it showcases the simplicity of being authentic, capturing a real moment in a real place. This cannot be faked, and despite the band clearly drawing on the influential mid-nineties Epitaph sound, they possess a grit and determination born of poverty, tragedy, and hard work.
Lyrically, Vala and Rodriguez swing between Spanish and English, not for effect, but due to Tijuana’s close proximity to the United States, this is how they speak. Each word seems to land with the weight of the environment that produced it. When Jake and Roddy snarl, it’s testimony.
The Nox Civita aesthetic follows the same logic. Grainy, black-and-white visuals. Mexican culture, street shrines, inner city backdrops, torn posters, xerox budget. As the artwork suggests, a world that feels lived-in rather than designed. The front cover for Puño Sin Pulso/Cuatro Cuadras Pa’bajo says more about the band’s roots than any press quote ever could. It’s Mexico without the Instagram filter: loud, funny, dangerous, sacred, brutally alive.
Subtle traces of 1960’s punk lineage can be heard on the B-side Cuatro Cuadras Pa’Bajo — the PNW grunt of Sonics, The Peruvian bite of Los Saicos, both of which are the heavy-lunged attack of punk’s first wave.
“My (grandfather) is from Lima and he grew up on these South American bands like Los Saicos and Traffic Sound, so my dad and me grew up with it too. He still plays that stuff today.”
As tiresome as it may seem in the western world where middle-class suburban punk has parodied the genre into cartoonish foolery, for Nox Civitas punk is all about survival. It’s a stark identity in a metropolis of clones, a reputation in a city of vultures. The city chokes, the sirens wail, dogs bark, riots spark, and amid the darkness and confusion, the will to persist lives on.
In a world built on division as weaponry and spectacle as distraction, Nox Civitas draw a line in the sand: die on your knees, or survive by making noise in the form of truth.
The reissue of Puño Sin Pulso/Cuatro Cuadras Pa’bajo (SUB007) can be purchased via Bandcamp for a buck, with limited edition green, white, and red covers (the colors of the Mexican flag) available through our Patreon.
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