A wall is a wall A wall is just a wall A wall is a wall And nothing more at all
Cost Of Living by Downtown Boys is an LP that has just gathered more and more momentum for me since it was released in 2017. I bought it after reading a couple of reviews and expected, and got, a blast of righteous anger from the Latina-fronted outfit, facing down the ugly truths of a disgusting disturbing discredited presidency.
As a voyeuristic connoisseur of rage it did me right, especially when I saw them play live, but the more I listen the more I find in here and I love that.
Cost Of Living was produced by Guy Picciotto from Fugazi and that gives us a signpost for the sound. Instrumentally Downtown Boys are drums, bass, guitar, keys and sax, which is a great combo, whilst the guitars cut and hew Joe DeGeorge’s sax gives us another dimension and stops anything here being too linear.
If you were looking for a rough guideline to the band’s sound here, ‘heavier X-Ray Spex‘ wouldn’t be a bad shout, but you would be simplifying an awful lot there. The post-punk ethos illuminates Cost Of Living, a striving to find a new, different voice which empowered so many back then.
The LP opens with ‘A Wall’; walls being something of a hot topic back in 2017. You may recall a certain gentleman’s wall being the most overblown, pompous, utterly impractical project to insulate his country from reality, the creeping threat of foreignness and the insidious means of dividing citizens; a far more Freudian than Floydian invention.
But I digress, the intro to ‘A Wall’ is pure E Street Band chords, which until I read an interview with front woman Victoria Ruiz today surprised me*. The wall in question is far more personal, than political and the stridency in her voice is matched smartly to a supple loose-limbed backing and I like the contrast.
The identity defiance of ‘I’m Enough (I Want More)’ is another highlight for me, as explained in live introductions it is about the daily statement that being brown, being queer, being other can be a political statement in its own right. Again my ears are drawn to Mary Regalado’s snaking bass runs. I love the sequencing that places this next to the busting ‘Somos Chulas (No Somos Pendejas)’**.
I won’t give you the full song-by-song here, Cost Of Living deserves better than that, plus I may be missing festive treats elsewhere in the house. Here are some highlights:
It Can’t Wait: this track just hurtles along, only just staying on the rails. I love that.
Promissory Note: positively new wave, some great guitaring right here from Joey La Neve DeFrancesco. Bonus swearing points too.
Tonta: I head bang along to the sax on this one.
Lips That Bite: my fave here. This is an absolute epic of defiance and intent, leavened by a great melody. I suspect Bruce would very much approve.
I think Downtown Boys are a really clever band and in Guy Picciotto they found an ideal producer to tease out the skeins of their sound, weaving it all into a melodic whole that packs a real punch.
I know Downtown Boys produced a film soundtrack in 2020 but have been quiet since, although they have been touring and their activism also continues. It would be a shame if they have flamed out, I for one would mourn them not getting more music out there. We need as many lips that bite as we can get^.
1163 Down.
*she’s obsessed with Bruce.
**my imperfect translation is ‘We Are Cool (We Are Not Stupid)’.
^even more so at this time of the year when much of the world is celebrating the birth of a radical protestor and social activist.
