Downtown Boys (band)

History

Downtown Boys formed after What Cheer? Brigade tubaist Joey La Neve DeFrancesco met vocalist Victoria Ruiz while working at the Renaissance Providence Hotel. DeFrancesco famously quit the hotel by handing in his letter of resignation accompanied by his What Cheer? bandmates. The footage of the resignation went viral.

In 2014, the band released a 7" single on Washington D.C.-based Sister Polygon Records to wide acclaim. Downtown Boys released second LP, Full Communism, on Don Giovanni Records on May 5, 2015. The album's lead single, "Monstro", drew critical attention from Pitchfork, Stereogum, and the broader music press. Rachel Brodsky of Spin wrote of the single: "Bravely combating, as their press release reads, “the prison-industrial complex, racism, queerphobia, capitalism, fascism, boredom, and all things people use to try to close our minds, eyes and hearts,” Downtown Boys do what their finest punk-rock forefathers did before them: challenge long-held ideas."

The group performed on news show Democracy Now! and was interviewed by host Amy Goodman

Rolling Stone featured the group and dubbed them "America's Most Exciting Punk Band"

The New Yorker described the group's live performances, noting that "[t]he tracks speed by with hardcore kineticism, but Ruiz’s lyrics squeeze your hand through the pit: she’s lucid and blunt, shouting down cops, traders, and any other impediment to justice that she can spot. There’s something distinctly post-punk about the Boys, ... [i]t could be the saxophone, but it’s probably the spirit."

In 2015, Ruiz and DeFrancesco launched the online magazine Spark Mag in collaboration with grassroots advocacy group Demand Progress. The site aims to feature underground and radical artists and connect fans to organizing work.

Discography