Downtown Boys: A Public Review – a delightful explosion of bilingual political punk | Music

OhThe prospect may sound old-fashioned, but the Downtown Boys are proud. On Public Luxury, the Rhode Island group’s third and most successful album, they wear their politics with pride – while bringing ambiguity, strangeness and shadow to their bilingual punk. Opener No Me Jodas (Osandifusa) comes out roaring, punchy, but delivers a bouncy, fun track: a brutal, big-hearted reminder that there’s beauty in fighting for what you believe in.

In the nine years since the band’s last record, they’ve acted as public defenders and founded the United Musicians and Allied Workers Union, as well as five hit singles, also inspired by the project. Viva La Rosa begins as dive-bar punk, before evolving into something bigger, with a booming electric guitar and beautiful lyrics: “Todavía creo en un future / Todavía veo nuestros muertos” (I still believe in the future / I still see our dead).

Sirena burns because of the heat that the Downtown Boys bring to their local show, fueled by Victoria Marie’s beautiful vocals, sounding like she’s playing through a megaphone. The drum machine and funky, drumming make you Ghost campy and industrial as it defies government surveillance, while Yellow Sun finds calmness as it defies itself: Marie exclaims “I’m burdened with love!” on hot vibraphone and hi-hats.

For all its brutality, Public Luxury ends on a small coda set – a steady house beat, a whistling melody and an understated message: “Take the fall with me,” he begs. The cynicism is over!