ALBUM REVIEW: Public Luxury – Downtown Boys
It has been nine years since DOWNTOWN BOYS released a full-length record, and it’s safe to say in that time that many things have changed. Everything is scarier, everyone is angrier, and the stakes are higher than ever before to save the world from falling into a level of chaos that was only ever dreamt before. Being a band that has reignited that raw punk passion since their 2011 conception, it was time to welcome them back at a time where arguably they are needed more than ever. Back and bigger than ever, step into Public Luxury.
To open the record is one of the earlier single releases No Me Jodas, one of a number of tracks featured that is recorded entirely in Spanish. The sound is one that DOWNTOWN BOYS have captured long before their current release; it’s fast, it’s angry, and it’s as real and raw as ever before. While a number of their fans will be unable to understand on first or second listen if they are not native Spanish speakers, it will still be the power that these tracks hold that will carry them into the hearts of fans. At a time where in the United States and in the United Kingdom, an embrace of multiculturalism and heritage is becoming a targeted experience, tracks like No Me Jodas are a very important inclusion.
Alongside later tracks such as Viva La Rosa and Sirena, the pride and passion encased in the use of the Spanish language is something that is a tool becoming handy. It’s a weapon that has been honed and can be used to one’s will, to defend against opposers and to fight a good fight alongside allies.
The record, in its industrial punk nature, does scatter some shorter and nearly literally punchier anthems. Tracks come just short of two minutes but land with full impact. The greatest hit to the eardrums is Enemy Without, an interlude of sorts placed right in the middle of the track listing just to revive any waning souls or wandering minds who were starting to feel uninspired. Enemy Without explodes with energy in its short package to bring on the style-blending powerhouse You’re A Ghost.
The record is led by the chanting echoes of vocalist Victoria Marie, track after track with layers of distortion than enforce the DIY roots of rock, punk and thrash that inspired them in the first place. Alongside her crowd-commanding voice is what feels like a constant drumbeat: rhythmic tapping, fire fuelled banging, carefully careless clashing. From track to track, hit to hit, fast to slow to high to low, it seems Marie is always being followed with the heartbeat of those percussions. There is dancing to the beat of one’s drum and then there is marching to the beat of one’s heart. As this sounds the former, it feels more attuned to the latter statement.
As the record closes with its namesake track, there is a juxtaposed realisation of how Public Luxury came to be. As the world is evolving, or devolving, before one’s own eyes, it’s really not changing as much as anyone would hope. Progress is halted while steps are taken back, and safety, security and sanctuary are just pipe dreams with damaged plumbing. DOWNTOWN BOYS hold the cracked mirror to society and the greater environment and don’t let anyone look away, whether in their hometown, country, continent or the entire planet. If it’s uncomfortable and upsetting and infuriating, then their work is done. Public Luxury is just another chapter in the history book written here and now. Let’s hope everyone listening comes out on the right side of it.
Rating: 8/10
Public Luxury is out now via Sup Pop Records.
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