This week’s ANCHR Artist of the Week goes to Destroy Boys, who I just had the pleasure of seeing perform at Riot Fest earlier this month.

Destroy Boys is a trio from Northern California, consisting of Violet Mayugba (guitar/vocals), Alexia Roditis (vocals/guitar), and drummer Narsai Malik. To date, Destroy Boys’ refreshing take on West Coast punk music has seen them selling out shows across the world and garnering nods from none-other than Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day.

“California punk rock changed my life. It showed me exactly what I want to do and who I want to be,” Violet Mayugba says about the inception and inspiration behind starting the band with Alexia Roditis. From their early days getting inspired by other bands and playing in crowded garage shows, Destroy Boys have now released three full-length albums, including 2021’s Open Mouth, Open Heart. The band released their latest record via Hopeless Records, and through the label, they’ve still been able to maintain and grow their own vision. One key aspect of their vision, which comes across in both their music and the way the run their team, is that representation of everyone matters. “Men have made the rules, and those rules fuck everyone else over. Having more women and nonbinary people behind the scenes, which is where [a lot of] the power is, will hopefully curtail the abuse in the industry,” Roditis said. “It’s important to have women and queer people, people of color, and differently-abled people in all aspects of the music industry, to have that support.”

Open Mouth, Open Heart is chock-full of amped-up gems—take the distorted lead in and drum-heavy intro to “Te llevo conmigo” or the quick-cadenced and candid lyrics to “Muzzle” and it’s difficult not to get riled up listening to the album.

See where you can catch Destroy Boys on the road next here, and tune into the video for “Drink” below.