Dios

The quintet Dios arose in Hawthorne, California, built around guitarists and vocalists Kevin Morales and Joel Morales together with bassist John Paul Caballero, keyboardist Jimmy Cabeza DeVaca, and drummer Jackie Monzon. Their hometown had already given the world the Beach Boys, Emitt Rhodes, and Black Flag, whose trippy wistfulness from the first two and D.I.Y. aesthetic from the third left clear marks on the group’s sound. The members came together in 2002 and started tracking material in Caballero’s basement, resulting in the Arboles EP that Dim Mak issued in late 2003. They kept gigging throughout this period, sharing bills with Pinback, the New Amsterdams, and the Polyphonic Spree. NME named them among its 50 bands to watch in 2004, an endorsement that arrived just before Star Time Records put out the self-titled debut album. In summer 2004 guitarist Ronnie James Dio sent the band a cease and desist letter over possible confusion with his own group Dio, after which the younger act adopted the name Dios Malos.