Downtown Boys - S/T (2012)

Downtown Boys are a bilingual political punk band from Providence, Rhode Island. If you're like me, you don't readily associate this New England city with an amazing music scene, but a little digging uncovers a full blown rash of rather crazy noise rock bands such as Lightning Bolt, Arab On Radar, and Six Finger Satellite. Does RISD have Noise Rock as a major?

Anyway, Downtown Boys bring a similar spastic energy to this, their self titled record. Punk rock this good is closely akin to late 70s UK band X-ray Spex(the saxophones help), and some from the Southern Californian scene of the same period and later.

I'm not personally super into mixing politics with my music. I'm kind of a "don't fucking let the maple syrup touch my hash browns" kind of guy. But I respect the passion it can bring to the delivery. Vocalist Victoria Ruiz is an astoundingly gifted screamer, always at a 10 but still able to give a dynamic performance. This is a raw, caged animal of a recording...  lo-fi while still very in your face.

Downtown Boys have a highly reputed live show, all dates of their current tour listed on their bandcamp. Looks like they'll be playing my old alma mater. What a treat it would be to see this band erupt in the tiny Downstairs Cafe, or wherever it is bands are now playing on that strangely secluded campus in the woods. I know that all of the heroin addicted anarchists, the circle drumming biology majors, and interpretive-dancing-to-express-their-own-psychosis students will be blown away.

$4 for 10 songs.
Sample song:
Bandcamp link:
Downtown Boys - S/T

Fugazi - The Argument (2001)

As American voters go to the polls today, it is important to remember that the best thing to come out of any political regime is the music that challenges it. There are so many great records directed at the powers that be and changing society that I was literally at a loss last night figuring out which one I would share today. When it comes to the general malaise maintained throughout last decade, no one addressed the issues of the day better than Washington DC’s hometown heroes, Fugazi. On their last record “The Argument” they had this to say about the state of their city:

 “on the morning of the first eviction they carried out the wishes of the landlord and his son/ furniture's out on the sidewalk next to the family/ that little piggie went to market, so they're kicking out everyone/ talking about process and dismissal forced removal of the people on the corner”

 Ian MacKay even directs his furor at fellow punks and activists who have gotten too close to power and lost their moral compass.  

“it's all about strikes now so here's what's striking me that some punk could argue some moral abc's when people are catching what bombers release”

I surely want one side to win today’s election, but great records like the Argument remind us the power music has to focus our concentration on what matters.  
Cashout           
The Argument

Get it here:
Fugazi - The Argument (2001)

Pussy Riot - 4 songs

Maybe you've all heard by now, but there's a riot grrrl/punk band from Russia who were arrested this past winter for performing an anti-Putin song at Russia's main cathedral in Moscow. Three members are still in prison and face up to several years in prison if convicted (they are being charged with "hooliganism", which sounds like something old people accuse young people of practicing.) Many protests in Russia are ongoing for the band. One Russian artist went so far as to sew his own mouth shut in protest of their incarceration.

Even Amnesty International has called for the release of the women, calling them "prisoners of conscience".

Not to get too political on what is purely a music blog, but the whole thing is fucked up and Russia is being run by crooks, clowns, and sadists ... not unlike many countries including my own ...but at least I could write a song called "Every Politician Is A Fucknut" and not serve years in prison for it. 

That's all I'll say about that.

Anyway, it's surprising that there's hardly anyone posting the recordings of this band. The four songs below are super lo-fi and in Russian so I'm completely in the dark as to what they are saying... so maybe that's why. Despite my ignorance, though, I was able to pick out words that sounded like "protest" "Putin" and, yes, even "vodka". The songs are more similar to Minor Threat in sound than Bikini Kill, but either way, it's frustration and anger that ties Pussy Riot into the same class as both those bands. 

I hope that the protests in support of Pussy Riot continue to grow until shit hits the Russian fan. If nothing else, what's happening is a testament to the power of music.

Want to get involved? Write a letter to Vladimir Putin yourself.

Or just give these whippersnappers a listen.

Pussy Riot - 4 songs