Downtown Boys – You’re a Ghost
Downtown Boys are back. The Providence quintet’s last album Cost of Living came out in 2017, and Public Luxury lands June 26th on Sub Pop, nine years on. “You’re a Ghost” is the second single, following lead track “No Me Jodas” (W13). The band is Victoria Marie (vocals), Joey La Neve DeFrancesco (guitar/vocals), Joe DeGeorge (sax/synth), Mary Jane Regalado (bass), and Joey Doubek (drums). Public Luxury was co-produced by DeFrancesco with engineer Seth Manchester (Lambrini Girls, Lightning Bolt, Model/Actriz) at Machines With Magnets in Pawtucket, RI, and mastered by Heba Kadry.
“You’re a Ghost” is industrial dance-punk moving at high velocity: tense, driving, built to stay just short of tipping over. The band are direct about what it’s for. Victoria Marie and DeFrancesco describe it as written in response to the suppression of pro-Palestine and anti-ICE protestors and ICE’s ongoing deportation operations. “Our bodies and our history are not a game; this is a power structure. ICE out”, they say. The animated video, directed by Lebanese artist Khalil, continues that line without softening it.
Public Luxury extends the logic of Full Communism (2015), the band’s second album: “Public Luxury means everything for everyone”, per the band, a stubborn insistence against nihilism while acknowledging what’s in front of them. Eleven tracks, Sub Pop, June 26th. The tour runs through the US in June and July with support slots alongside Gang of Four and headline dates to follow.
Public Luxury is out June 26th on Sub Pop.
Tour Dates:
North America:
- Jun 23 – Hamden, CT – Space Ballroom (w/ Gang of Four)
- Jun 24 – Holyoke, MA – Holyoke Media (w/ Perennial)
- Jun 25 – Woodstock, NY – Bearsville Theater (w/ Gang of Four)
- Jun 27 – Portland, ME – State Theater (w/ Gang of Four)
- Jun 28 – East Greenwich, RI – Odeum (w/ Gang of Four)
- Jul 15 – Columbus, OH – Spacebar (w/ Pop Music Fever Dream)
- Jul 16 – Detroit, MI – Third Man Records (w/ Pop Music Fever Dream)
- Jul 18 – Cleveland, OH – Happy Dog (w/ Pop Music Fever Dream)
- Jul 19 – Pittsburgh, PA – Bottlerocket Social Hall (w/ Pop Music Fever Dream)
- Jul 21 – Philadelphia, PA – Johnny Brenda’s (w/ Pop Music Fever Dream)
- Jul 22 – Washington, DC – DC9 Nightclub (w/ Pop Music Fever Dream)
- Jul 23 – Brooklyn, NY – Baby’s All Right (w/ Ratas en Zelo)
