Downtown Boys , one of Providence’s most exciting bands emerging from an already rich scene has just dropped a raw piece of timelessly intense and exuberant punk in their debut, self-titled release.
Boasting several members of primo brass band What Cheer? Brigade DTB have been raging up basements, galleries, and the interstitial corners of the Northeast for a year or so, gaining a rep for bringing the party in an inclusive, all or nothing brawl of joy. The album captures all their live immediacy and rough edges but leaves intact the urgency and intensity of a frenetic DTB set. Norlan Olivo‘s drums are pounded frantically like they are staking down a giant tent in a storm, warped ass bass and guitar (Dan Schleifer and Joey DeFrancesco respectively) thrust forward like wild horses unleashed and a double sax attack by Emmett Fitzgerald and Will Cioffi rips big harmonic holes in everything. Singer Victoria Ruiz is a force, screeching each vocal stab like she was fighting the snaky roots of Babylon directly, the words equal parts joy and anger that both uplifts and devastates.
I defy you to get the riffs from such tunes as “Slumlord Sal” or the Pekinska Patka cover “Poderimo Rok” out of your head, they’ve been stuck in mine for months now… this is the punk music of right now and tomorrow, free from the conformism of sleeve tattoos and silly hair but drawing from the original well that drew all the bands who give voice and a sharpened quill to the downtrodden and defenceless like MDC , TSOL and Crass before them.
A triumphant and blissfully fucked up first shot by a seriously radical band. Whenever possible, see them live and when not, buy some of their music!
