DOWNTOWN BOYS
Public Luxury (Sub Pop)
When Downtown Boys erupted out of the DIY venue and union-organising scene of Providence, Rhode Island some 15 years ago, their pure righteous anger coalesced into a pretty brilliant firestorm of punk, noise, ramalama rock’n’roll and weirdly melodic saxophone lines. Songs like Callate or Slumlord Sal were furious blasts of being told off in English and Spanish, direct to your grinning mug in a stinking basement.
Now on Sub Pop, the production values may have become classier, the tempo occasionally down a notch, but the ire and solidarity remain coursing. The City Begins reprises the classic frantic vocal back-and-forth of Victoria Marie and Joey DeFrancesco; Viva La Rosa deconstructs the same then returns in glossier form. You’re A Ghost’s drum machine throb moves almost industrially, and conversely some borderline new wave indie touches threaten a few songs, fifth column-style. There’s a Springsteen-shaped working-class beast hiding in Downtown Boys, presumably kept down by lack of recognition, ideology and grinding penury. Right on!
words WILL STEEN
