Something Worth Listening To : Downtown Boys

There is only perk when the world seems to be freefalling in a terrifying downward political spiral that resembles the film Idiocracy and that is the rebirth of tremendous pissed off punk music.

I had the opportunity to see Downtown Boys perform this weekend (along with Sheer Mag, Christi, and Dazeases) and they were everything I has hear them to be. X-Ray Specs, Crass, Dead Kennedys, and Bikini Kill rolled into one bi-lingual band from Providence, Rhode Island. The only thing better than a captivating, energetic, and powerful live band is one that is educated and saying important things about the state of the world around them.

São Paulo Death Rock : Rakta

Ratka says they are not trying to attach themselves to any specific genre (peace-punk, anarcho, death rock, goth, post-punk) however the group's desert island picks in a 2014 cvltnation.com interview were intriguing enought that I was inspired to check out their music for myself.

Q: A question I ask all bands: If you all were stranded on a desert island, and somehow magically had the means to play records, but could only take 5 records with you, what would those 5 records be?

Natha: Big Boys records and definitely Ramones.

Laura: Hahaha, maybe Cólera Pela “Paz em Todo Mundo” LP, Crass’s 7’’ EP “Nagasaki Nightmare,” Gauze’s “Fuckheads” LP, Las Otras’ “Devolver el Golpe” LP, and Ras Michael and Sons of Negus LP. Nyahbinghi compilation.

Paula: This is so hard. Om, “Advaitic Songs“; Pedro Santos, “Krishnanda“; Spacemen 3, “Playing with Fire“; Dead Can Dance, “Spiritchaser“; Pink Floyd, “Live at Pompeii.”

Carla: Melody Nelson, Serge Gainsbourg. Universal Consciousness, Alice Coltrane. Ramones, Ramones. Black Ark in Dub, Lee Perry. Garlands, Cocteau Twins. Future Days, Can.

Ratka's music definitely reminds me of an '80s crust punk band slowed down with a delay pedal and extra reverb to a speed better suited for slow motion head banging in a cave.