Latin American alternative rock found its identity in the combination of popular music genres like cumbia and son, traditional folk, ska, hip hop, and punk. The artists leading those fusions formed the Alterlatino movement, a coalition involving musicians from across the continent who had decided to do something revolutionary: start a genuinely Latin American avant-garde.

This book chronicles the movement's origins with the advent of punk in the 1980s, its commercial and creative pinnacle in the 1990s, and the transformations it faced due to the music industry crisis in the 2000s. It connects Alterlatino with the pioneering mixture of rock and traditional music in the 1970s and projects its influence into the indie scene that emerged in the 2010s, opening a door to the last great Latin American revolt.

Café Tacvba, Manu Chao, La Maldita Vecindad, Aterciopelados, and Los Fabulosos Cadillacs are the head figures of the movement, embodying a blend of popular sounds and a shared countercultural discourse that remained strong despite their enormous mainstream success. Alterlatino crystalized the worldview of the Latin American youth that came of age after democracy had returned to their countries and who aspired to transform the world.