San Francisco-based band, Destroy Boys, packs a profusion of sonic and lyrical elements into their latest album “Open Heart, Open Mouth.” With their prior releases, consisting of two full-length albums as well as a handful of singles, Destroy Boys has made a name for themselves as an obstreperous and wildly talented punk band that is on the rise. 

“We knew we wanted to play punk rock, we knew that was the goal,” lead guitarist and one of the founding members of the band, Violet Mayugba said. Mayugba started Destroy Boys when she was 15-years-old with her high school friend, Alexi Roditis, lead singer of the band. 

From early on the band was cranking out punk anthems filled with angst and emotion, which became central to the band’s image.

“I had always loved punk since I was 11 or 12 and I feel like the reason why a lot of people gravitate towards punk rock is because they are pissed off about something. I had those feelings, as did Alexia. When Alexia and I met I showed her a lot of the bands that I was into and we just decided that that’s what we were going to do,” Mayugba said.

With their latest album, Destroy Boys set out on the path towards growing into something more than “a little baby punk band” as Mayugba described. Unlike prior releases by the band, “Open Mouth, Open Heart” isn’t grounded in a punk sound, although it still carries elements of the genre.

Sonically, there are a lot of elements at play on the record. As on past releases, a fast-paced rhythm section is present on a handful of tracks, yet slowed anthems with acoustic instrumentation also make an appearance. The guitar chord progressions aren’t simply cut and dry punk successions, but instead incorporate more melodic riffs influenced by a variety of genres from pop to alternative.

“What’s cool about this album is that it isn’t a traditional punk album at all, we were really trying to do what we could to write whatever came to mind instead of trying to fit into what is punk or not, and we really pushed ourselves. We’re really proud of it,” Mayugba said.

Using powerful vocals and emotionally motivating lyrics, the band sets out to create a platform for the voices of the disenfranchised and underrepresented. The contents of the lyrics flow from talking about love and relationships to substance use and mental health, as well as lyrics surging with anger in response to misogyny and police brutality. 

Mayugba described how the lyrics for the album followed a similar path of fluidity as was employed when writing the instrumentation.

“We always tend to write music for ourselves. Alexia writes a lot of songs about bigger causes, social justice issues, which I think is incredible. It stems from that one needs to write about that from oneself. Most of the lyrics I write are from a very deep-seated need to explore whatever feeling it is that I’m writing about whether that be romantic issues or just life, mental stuff, anything, it’s just a really deep need to get it out of me.”

The lyrics cut deep, especially with the raw power and emotion that floods from Roditis and Mayugba singing them. It is characteristic of the band to present loud vocals with screams and intensity that provide a roughness to the sound. “Open Mouth, Open Heart” branches out vocally as well with the addition of harmonic backup vocals and cadence of voice, which isn’t prevalent on past albums.

The album is an amalgamation of lyrical themes, vocal techniques, instrumentation and genre that has something to offer to every listener and displays Destroy Boys’ break away from the limits of their punk image. “Open Mouth, Open Heart” is available on Spotify and Apple Music on Oct. 8.