more from
Sub Pop Records
We’ve updated our Terms of Use to reflect our new entity name and address. You can review the changes here.
We’ve updated our Terms of Use. You can review the changes here.

Cost of Living

by Downtown Boys

/
  • Streaming + Download

    Includes unlimited streaming via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD  or more

     

  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Includes unlimited streaming of Cost of Living via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $16 USD or more 

     

  • Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    Gatefold digipak with insert.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Cost of Living via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $12 USD or more 

     

  • Cassette + Digital Album

    Metallic gold colored cassette tape.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Cost of Living via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.
    ships out within 3 days
    Purchasable with gift card

      $10 USD or more 

     

  • Loser Edition Vinyl LP
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited edition Marbled Gold colored vinyl available during pre-order or while supplies last. Single LP jacket with poster.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Cost of Living via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

    Sold Out

  • Gold Block Letters Black T-Shirt
    T-Shirt/Apparel

    100% cotton black t-shirt.
    DOES NOT come with an album download.

    Sold Out

1.
A Wall 04:03
2.
3.
4.
5.
Because You 03:27
6.
7.
8.
Tonta 01:53
9.
10.
11.
Clara Rancia 03:34
12.

about

The United States’ myriad inequalities, hatreds and phobias are painfully evident in 2017, offering proof that the age-old dichotomy of “political bands” versus “apolitical bands” simply doesn’t exist. Either you are comfortable and unfazed by the current reigning power structures, or you use your music as a vehicle for the dismantling of oppression and the creation of something better. No matter what your songs are about, you are choosing a side.

The position of Providence, RI’s Downtown Boys has been clear since they started storming through basements and DIY spaces with their radically-minded rock music: they are here to topple the white-cis-het hegemony and draft a new history. Downtown Boys began by combining revolutionary ideals with boundless energy and contagious, inclusive fun, and their resolve has only strengthened as their sound and audience have grown.

'Cost of Living' is their third full-length, following a self-released 2012 debut and 2015’s Full Communism on Don Giovanni Records. They recorded it with Guy Picciotto (Fugazi; producer of Blonde Redhead, The Gossip), one of indie-rock’s most mythological figures, in the producer’s chair. Picciotto fostered the band’s improvisational urges while pulling the root of their music to the forefront: unflinching choruses, fearlessly confrontational vocals, and the sense that each song will incite the room into action, sending bodies into motion that were previously thought to have atrophied.

Downtown Boys are keenly aware of the increased visibility and credibility that comes with signing to a corporate-media conglomerate such as Sub Pop. They’re using this platform as a megaphone for their protest music, amplifying and centering Chicana, queer, and Latino voices in the far-too-whitewashed world of rock. In just one example, album-opener “A Wall” rides the feel-good power that drove so many tunes by The Clash and Wire as it calls out the idea that a wall could ever succeed in snuffing the humanity and spirit of those it’s designed to crush.

Compared to previous efforts, Downtown Boys have shifted from a once-meaty brass section to the subtler melodic accompaniment of keyboards and a saxophone, coloring their anthems with warm, bright tones while singer/lyricist Victoria Ruiz spits out her frustrations and passions. Some might say it shows a sense of maturity, as Downtown Boys have undoubtedly smoothed down some of their earlier edges, but there is no compromise to their righteous assault and captivating presence. 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 the day. We should all do well to take notice!

- Matt Korvette, Pissed Jeans

credits

released August 11, 2017

license

all rights reserved

tags

about

Downtown Boys Providence, Rhode Island

Serious band from Providence.

shows

contact / help

Contact Downtown Boys

Streaming and
Download help

Shipping and returns

Redeem code

Report this album or account

Downtown Boys recommends:

If you like Downtown Boys, you may also like: