Downtown Boys have released their third album, Public Luxury, a ferocious rallying call to fight for your beliefs. The Rhode Island five-piece, known for their bilingual punk, deliver their best work yet, blending bouncing basslines, muted house chords, and stomping drums.
Optimism in Punk
Optimism might feel outdated, but Downtown Boys are proud outliers. On Public Luxury, they wear their politics proudly while introducing new ambiguity, strangeness, and shadow to their passionate, sax-blasted punk. Opener No Me Jodas (Don't Fuck With Me) roars with fists up, but transitions into a bouncing, joyous bassline—a brutal, big-hearted reminder that there is beauty in fighting for what you believe in.
Band's Evolution
In the nine years since their last record, the band members have served as public defenders and co-founded the United Musicians and Allied Workers union. The five-piece sound muscled-up and reinvigorated by this work. Viva La Rosa kicks off like dive-bar punk before transforming into something grander, with soaring electric guitar and darkly beautiful lyrics: 'Todavía creo en un future / Todavía veo nuestros muertos' (I still believe in a future / I still see our dead).
Live Energy on Record
Sirena boils with the heat that Downtown Boys bring to their frenzied live shows, egged on by magnificently throaty vocals from Victoria Marie, sounding as if she is singing down a megaphone. Stomping drum machine and funky, bubbling synthesiser make You're a Ghost campy and industrial as it rails against state surveillance. Yellow Sun finds a kind of serenity in protest, with Marie yelling 'I'm so heavy with love!' over warm vibraphone and hissing hi-hats.
A Clubby Conclusion
For all its ferocity, Public Luxury ends on a lightly clubby coda—muted house chords, a whistling melody, and a not-very-subliminal message: 'Take the fall with me,' they beckon. Cynicism begone!
