Review of ‘Public Luxury’, the new album by Downtown Boys after almost a decade

Almost a decade has taken them to Downtown Boys return with a new album. It is true that in these almost two decades things have happened: the pandemic that wreaked havoc on the entire industry paralyzed them, they composed the music for the film “Miss Marx”and they dedicated themselves body and soul to creating a union of musicians in their country, one of those aspirations that rarely come to fruition.

The fact is that the group from Providence (the city of the inimitable Lightning Bolt) has returned, expanding musical horizons, from the language-based punk that characterizes them to the dirty electronic pop related to Viagra Boys (“You Are a Ghost”), noise rock and even blunt cumbia punk (“My Shell”). It is no coincidence that it was also Seth Manchester, the technician of the latest and celebrated work of Model/Actress and the British Lambrini Girls, who brought these songs to fruition.

The single “Don’t Fuck Me” It is quite a declaration of intentions: sung in fierce – and sometimes incomprehensible, at least for me – Spanish like other songs in which Victoria Marie, the singer of Mexican origin, gives her all, it is a punch on the table. However, it seems to me that when they get sophisticated (“Yellow Sun”, “Public Luxury”) get more interesting.

The group’s Hispanic roots are also visible in cuts like “Siren”which is partially inspired by a traditional Mexican song, but has an almost sinister undertone with those keyboards. It is this powerful hybrid between Latin and punk in all its derivatives that ends up giving the group its main asset. There is no doubt that the pogos will continue to be generous in their future performances.