Downtown Boys – No Me Jodas
Nine years is a long time. Downtown Boys released Cost of Living on Sub Pop in 2017, and while the Providence quintet never exactly went away — they toured, organized, covered Selena, and scored the 2020 Italian film Miss Marx (which won best score at both Venice and the David di Donatello Awards) — a proper new album has been a long time coming. Public Luxury arrives June 26 on Sub Pop, and “No Me Jodas” is its opening salvo.
The band — Victoria Marie (vocals), Joey La Neve DeFrancesco (guitar/vocals), Joe DeGeorge (saxophone/synthesizer), Mary Jane Regalado (bass), and Joey Doubek (drums) — recorded at Machines With Magnets in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, co-producing with engineer Seth Manchester. It’s a homecoming of sorts: Seth Manchester watched the band’s early days when Machines With Magnets hosted some of their first shows. Heba Kadry handled mastering.
“No Me Jodas” — don’t fuck with me — opens with thundering drums and sax before pivoting into something closer to surf-punk, righteously ferocious and genuinely fun at the same time. What I find interesting about it is how it manages both registers without hedging: the aggression doesn’t undercut the danceability, and vice versa. The video, directed by John McKay and featuring Mariachi Internacional Tapatio De Alvaro Paulino, was shot at a small Brooklyn club. Marie explains the visual reference: “The video for ‘No Me Jodas’ is inspired by the aesthetic of ‘chicha’ — a music culture out of Peru that is also about economics, work, partying, life, desire, and nightlife. The ethic, as put by one Chicha musician, Chacalón, is two words: chamba y vacilón (hard work and partying).”
The song also carries personal weight. According to the album’s press materials, “No Me Jodas” channels the influence of Marie’s grandmother, who passed away in May 2025 before recording began — a figure the whole band considers significant. DeFrancesco describes the album’s ambition clearly: “This record is bigger and more expansive than anything we’ve done before. In writing this music, I tried to get closer to the feeling and sound of our live shows, which is where Downtown Boys is best experienced.” Marie frames the record’s politics just as directly: “We as the people have the power — and we will have it all.” That’s exactly the Downtown Boys I remember, and it’s exactly the right time for them to be back. A track this sharp after nearly a decade away earns its place without much argument.
Tracklist:
- No Me Jodas
- The City Begins
- Sirena
- Yellow Sun
- Viva La Rosa
- Enemy Without
- You’re a Ghost
- Albuterol
- Mi Concha
- Public Works
- Public Luxury
Tour Dates North America:
- March 26 – Providence, RI – AS220 (w/ Black Eyes)
- March 27 – Boston, MA – Deep Cuts (w/ Whyte Lipstick)
- March 28 – Portland, ME – Space 538 (w/ Red Eft & Bait Bag)
