National Tour Dates Incl. Pitchfork’s Northside Showcase, Riot Fest, House Of Vans, Made In America Festival.
Downtown Boys use their ferocious energy and powerhouse live shows to unite crowds in the struggle to smash racism, queerphobia, capitalism, fascism, boredom, and all things people use to try to close our minds, eyes and hearts. The Providence, RI band have announced their third album, Cost of Living, to be released (Preorder here now) August 11 on Sub Pop. The new album - the follow-up to their critically-acclaimed sophomore album, 2015’s Full Communism - is at once incendiary, cathartic, and fun, melding the band’s revolutionary ideals with boundless energy. Produced by Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto, one of indie-rock’s most mythological figures (he also produced Blonde Redhead, The Gossip, and others), Cost of Living shows a sense of maturity without compromising the band’s righteous assault and captivating presence.
“… wild, bilingual, no-filler, can-still-throw-down punk rock.” - NPR
“Accompanied by production from Greg Norman and Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto, Downtown Boys sound sharper than ever, their urgency tightened into a raging storm. The band understands that for a song to be political, it needs to be more than just than a temporary rebellion: It has to dig into the essence of an identity with relentless honesty.” - Pitchfork, Best New Track
“… Downtown Boys are a beam of radical energy” – Rookie
“ …the politically-minded Rhode Island punk crew Downtown Boys slam bullying hardcore guitars, X-Ray Spex-y horns and radical lyrical fury together into a moshpit utopia.” – Rolling Stone
Cost of Living is Downtown Boys’ first record for storied indie label Sub Pop, and the band is using this new platform as a megaphone for their protest music, amplifying and centering Chicana, queer, and Latino voices in the far-too-whitewashed world of rock. t Lyrically inspired by Assata Shakur’s poem “i believe in living,” album-opener “A Wall” rides the feel-good power that drove so many tunes by The Clash and Wire, calling out the idea that a wall could ever succeed in snuffing the humanity and spirit of those it’s designed to crush. “Promissory Note” is a bold self-introduction to the exclusive clubs that either ignore Downtown Boys’ existence, or worse, feign appreciation: “So what’s the matter, you don’t like what you see? / I can’t believe you’re even talking to me!” Ruiz shouts. “Tonta,” one of the three songs written and sung primarily in Spanish, is an introspective and emotional portrait of anguish which calls to mind the mighty scrum of Huasipungo at an ABC No Rio matinee.
The position of Downtown Boys has been clear since they started storming through basements and DIY spaces with their radically-minded, indefatigable rock music: they are here to topple the white-cis-het hegemony and draft a new history. This is how Downtown Boys began, and their resolve has only strengthened as both their sound and audience have grown. Like the socially conscious groups of years past, from Public Enemy to Rage Against the Machine, Downtown Boys harness powerful sloganeering, repetitive grooves, and earworm hooks to create one of the most necessary musical statements of today.
[Photo Credit: Miguel Rosario]
The time is now for you to follow Downtown Boys everywhere over the known internets via Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Bandcamp.
Cost of Living
Downtown Boys’ new album, Cost of Living, will be released on CD / LP / CASS / DL, and is available for pre-order here now. LP pre-orders in North America through the Sub Pop Mega Mart and select independent retailers will receive the Loser Edition on marbled gold vinyl while supplies last. Plus, a new T-shirt design will also be available.
Cost of Living :: Tracklist
1. A Wall 2. I’m Enough (I Want More) 3. Somos Chulas (No Somos Pendejas) 4. Promissory Note 5. Because You 6. Violent Complicity 7. It Can’t Wait 8. Tonta 9. Heroes (Interlude) 10. Lips That Bite 11. Clara Rancia 12. Bulletproof (Outro)
6/9: Brooklyn, NY @ Pitchfork Northside Fest Showcase @ St. Vitus 6/16: Ashfield, MA @ The Ashfield Lake House 6/17: Providence, RI @ Aurora 7/12: Brooklyn, NY @ House of Vans 8/19: Omaha, NE @ Maha Festival 9/2 - 9/3: Philadelphia, PA @ Made In America Festival 9/15 - 9/17: Chicago, IL @ Riot Fest 9/23: Los Angeles, CA @ Summer Happenings at The Broad 10/9: Leffinge, Belgium @ Cafe De Zwerver 10/10: Paris, France @ Le Point Ephemere 10/11: Brighton, UK @ The Haunt 10/12: Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club 10/13: Edinburgh, UK @ Sneaky Pete’s 10/14: Glasgow, UK @ Stereo 10/16: Dublin, Ireland @ The Workman’s Club 10/17: Liverpool, UK @ The Shipping Forecast 10/18: London, UK @ Dome Tufnell Park 10/19: Sheffield, UK @ Picture House Social Club 10/20: Manchester, UK @ Deaf Institute 10/21: Bristol, UK @ Simple Things Festival 10/22: Birmingham, UK @ All Years Leaving Festival 10/24: Munster, Germany @ Gleis 22 10/25: Berlin, Germany @ Urban Spree 10/26: Hamburg, Germany @ Hafenklang
Sub Pop recording artists Downtown Boys (Providence, RI), Marika Hackman (London, UK), LVL UP (New York, NY), Porter Ray (Seattle, WA), and Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever (Melbourne, AU) will all make appearances at the 2017 edition of SXSW in Austin, Texas.
Links to artists pages, tunes (video or audio) and daily schedule are below…
MARCH 14 5:45pm DOWNTOWN BOYS Show: Hotel Vegas - Spring Break Boogie! Heaven or Hot Burrito Location: Hotel Vegas (1502 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78702) ------------------------------ 9:00pm ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER Show: I OH YOU / Transgressive Records Showcase Location: 21st Co-Op (707 W 21st St, Austin, TX 78705) ------------------------------ 9:30pm MARIKA HACKMAN Show:Paradyse x Sportsday Showcase Location: Pearl Street Co-Op (2000 Pearl St, Austin, TX 78705)
MARCH 15 4:30pm DOWNTOWN BOYS Show: The FADER Fort Location: Volcom Garden (1209 E. 6th St., Austin, TX 78702) ----------------------------- 10:00pm MARIKA HACKMAN Show: BBC Radio 2 SXSW Official Showcase. Location: Latitude 30 (512 San Jacinto Boulevard) ----------------------------- 10:00-10:40pm PORTER RAY Show/Location: Swan Dive (615 Red River Street, Austin, TX 78701) ----------------------------- 1:15am DOWNTOWN BOYS Show: Ground Control Touring Showcase Location: The Sidewinder (715 Red River St, Austin, TX 78701)
MARCH 16 12:00pm DOWNTOWN BOYS Show: Pitchfork Day Party Location: French Legation Museum (802 San Marcos St, Austin, TX 78702) Time: 12:00pm --------------------------- 12:15pm LVL UP Show: Sound on Sound & Brooklyn Vegan’s Lost Weekend Location: Cheer Up Charlie’s (900 Red River St, Austin, TX, 78701) --------------------------- 2:15pm LVL UP Show: The FADER Fort Location: Volcom Garden (1209 E. 6th St., Austin, TX 78702) ----------------------------- 3:00pm ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER Show: Another Planet Showcase Location: The Sidewinder - Indoor (715 Red River St, Austin, TX 78701) ---------------------------- 3:30pm DOWNTOWN BOYS Show: Brooklyn Vegan x Sound on Sound Lost Weekend Location: Cheer Up Charlie’s (900 Red River St, Austin, TX 78701) ---------------------------- 6:35-7:00pm ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER Show: Aussie BBQ Showcase Location: Brush Square Park (409 E 5th St, Austin, TX 78701) Time: ----------------------------- 9:00pm MARIKA HACKMAN Show:Transgressive Records SXSW Showcase Location: The Blackheart (86 Rainey St, Austin, TX 78701) ----------------------------- 11pm ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER Show: Paradigm Official Showcase Location: The Parish (214 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78701)
MARCH 17 12:00pm MARIKA HACKMAN Show: Brooklyn Vegan x Sound on Sound Lost Weekend Location: Cheer Up Charlie’s (900 Red River St, Austin, TX 78701) ----------------------------- 12:45pm ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER Show: Brooklyn Vegan x Sound on Sound Lost Weekend Location: Cheer Up Charlies (900 Red River St, Austin, TX 78701) ----------------------------- 1:30pm DOWNTOWN BOYS Show: SXSW Showcase Location: The Mohawk (912 Red River St, Austin, TX 78701) --------------------------- 5:35pm LVL UP Show: Austin Oasis 2017 Location: Hole in the Wall (2538 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78705) ----------------------------- 6:00pm DOWNTOWN BOYS Show: South By San Jose Location: Hotel San Jose (1316 S Congress Ave, Austin, TX 78704) ----------------------------- 10:10-10:45pm ROLLING BLACKOUTS COASTAL FEVER Show: Panache Bookings Party Location: Hotel Vegas (1502 E 6th St, Austin, TX 78702) ----------------------------- 11:00pm LVL UP Show: Ad Hoc Showcase Location: Cheer Up Charlie’s (900 Red River St, Austin, TX 78701) ----------------------------- 12:35-12:50am PORTER RAY Show Kosher Dillz Showcase Location: Dozen Street (1808 E 12th St, Austin, TX 78702)
MARCH 18 1:00pm MARIKA HACKMAN Show: Space 24 Twenty Location: Urban Outfitters (2406 Guadalupe Street Austin, TX 78705)
REAL NEWS: Sub Pop has signed the politically charged Downtown Boys to a universe-wide record deal! The Providence, RI-based band is currently at work on their label debut, which will be released later this year. While we wait for details on the new album, the band will play a series of U.S. tour dates beginning March 6th in Baltimore at Ottobar and ending March 24th in Brooklyn at Baby’s All Right.
Highlights for the tour include a series of shows at SXSW March 14-17. These dates are bookended by two stand-alone performances: February 3rd in Washington, DC at the Black Cat and a sold-out April 20th show at Philadelphia’s First Unitarian Church. (Current tour dates listed below.
About Downtown Boys: Now that the United States has a despot instead of a president, Downtown Boys are that much more driven to use their anger and their joy to drill away at the walls of white supremacy’s brain. Based in Providence, RI, the band released their acclaimed debut album, Full Communism, in 2015, and they have been touring their powerful live show throughout North America and Europe since 2012. They bring an aggressive dissonance to make a harmonious message against the erasure of people of color, queer people, femmes, and those of us who have always been in the center of the pit whether you knew it or not.
The band is currently working with Greg Norman and Fugazi’s Guy Picciotto on their second LP, and they join the countless people filling streets and airports around the country to loudly proclaim #NoBan, #NoRegistry, #FuckWhiteSupremacy.
“Those who still defend the supremacy of white male hetero-patriarchy had better watch out.” – Angela Davis, inauguration day speech, 2017.
Feb. 03 - Washington, DC - The Freedom Fair @ Black Cat* Mar. 06 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar** Mar. 07 - Raleigh, NC - Duke Coffeehouse** Mar. 08 - Nashville, TN - Third Man Records** Mar. 09 - New Orleans, LA - Siberia** Mar. 10 - Houston, TX - Walter’s** Mar. 11 - McAllen, TX - Yerberia Cultura** Mar. 13 - San Antonio, TX - Paper Tiger** Mar. 14-17 - Austin, TX - SXSW Mar. 18 - Dallas, TX - Not So Fun Weekend @ Club Dada # Mar. 19 - Hot Springs, AR - Valley of Vapors** Mar. 20 - Chattanooga, TN - JJ’s Bohemia** Mar. 21 - Asheville, NC - The Mothlight** Mar. 23 - Philadelphia, PA - Everybody Hits** Mar. 24 - Brooklyn, NY - Baby’s All Right** Apr. 20 - Philadelphia, PA - First Unitarian Church [SOLD OUT]^
* w/ Two Inch Astronaut, Loi Loi, and Kosi & Free Thyme ** w/ Sneaks # w/ Chastity Belt, Weaves, and Flasher ^ w/ Paint It Black, Praise, Gouge Away, and Soul Glo
