Protomartyr

I started reading the comments on that vid and didn't understand why they are all from Brazilians, as I was not aware of this infamous incident involving a televised singing show and a wisecracking puppet

Hahaha great song but I’m hearing a strong El-P/RTJ vibe here.

new song is excellent, as is the repurposed-stock-footage video

https://youtu.be/ofXWdTjvDP4

also I'm very confused about the origin/inspiration of the "Processed by the Boys" video

never heard of them before. the three released songs of the new album are pretty good. they have something about them. like the fall with tunes or something. sometimes a little repetitive though.

The Agent Intellect is still their best imo but I have high hopes for the new one.

I wouldn’t call them repetitive but they definitely have a sound that they stick to, which I appreciate.

the new album sounds like some music that had to be released, urgent and key.

One of my favorite things about this band has always been their album sequencing, and after listening to the new one once through, I'm happy to say they continue to deliver on that front. It's never pretentious or flashy, but the way they run feedback noises, reverb tails, and count-ins over the gaps between songs feels so crucial to their aesthetic. The false ending of "Modern Business Hymns" was a nice touch, too -- I don't think they've used that particular trick before.

I've been waiting since "Processed by the Boys" was released as a single back in March to see what rough beast's approach is heralded by that fade up at the end. It's almost like a pavlovian conditioned response, except somehow I trained myself using just a bell and no food.

I think this is their most...atmospheric album? It sounds fantastic.

It sounds more comfortable somehow, which suits them better than I expected.

'The Aphorist' sounds like a Spoon cover.

lol at the Ian Cohen diss

There's the failed lawyer haunting teen-punk shows
He'll explain his top 5 for 09 and what to eat
But, if you ever saw his bald-skull head
You'd be certain he'd been dead for weeks

lmao

the new album is their best yet I think. the woodwind arrangements are a great touch, and perfectly mixed. Joe Casey is a brilliant lyricist, I hope at some point he breaks down the lyrics of the new one like he did for Relatives in Descent here

https://www.npr.org/sections/allsongs/2017/09/29/553963443/what-s-the-meaning-of-life-ask-protomartyr

This album is fantastic

this one didn't seem as immediate as their last couple of albums on first listen, but i'm sure i'll come around to it. great drumming.

it definitely took me a couple listens for it to open up

on this listen I realized they're basically a darker, nastier version of The National now which I am very into

I wish The National were a darker, nastier version of The National.

It just sounds like a proficient Birthday Party tribute band with shoddy lyrics about 'the common man' rather than bats.

― Damo Suzuki's Parrot, Tuesday, 18 June 2013 22:11 (seven years ago) bookmarkflaglink

underrated post imo

Otm post but remove "just"

they make me think of a songier version of the baltimore band wilderness

Tbh show me more Birthday Party tribute bands, that would rule

I might be in the minority here but i think Relatives is the better record.
The production and arrangements here are better but the songs themselves are superior in the previous record.
That being said, i do like this record and Michihan Hammers is their best song imo

"It just sounds like a proficient Birthday Party tribute band with shoddy lyrics about 'the common man' rather than bats"

Replace BP with Mark E Smith

I posted this to my social media:

I once again tried - and failed - to get into a new Protomartyr release.
I think the issue is that while I love post-punk, they come at it like Joe Jackson and I prefer Killing Joke.
(I may be oversimplifying this. But the key takeaway is that I tried.)

I may not be the target audience for them however my friend Steve Holtje commented more succinctly: "A series of gestures strung together is not quite a song."

"Worm in Heaven" is one of my fave album closers in years. And every bit a song.

I do think "a series of gestures" is a fair description of their early stuff, but not the last few albums.

Well, the do lack on the melody department. Closer to spoken word sometimes (Mark E Smith anyone?)

"I may not be the target audience for them however my friend Steve Holtje commented more succinctly: "A series of gestures strung together is not quite a song."

But Iggy Pop said they are the best american band right now

dang this is good. agreed about the sequencing, a parquet courts-esque song like 'worm in heaven' would rub me the wrong way if it were anything but the final track. powerhouse performance by the band on 'i am you now.'

Basucally they are like Parquet Courts with bigger balls and less melodies.

This is so great, I think this might be my favorite of theirs yet. The drumming is so good throughout and I thought this quote from the drummer was pretty interesting:

I saw Chris Talbot play such diverse parts and they all served the songs perfectly. Having the percussion drive the song, but also act as its own melody is something I'm preoccupied with and that happens frequently on those Wild Beasts records.

You know, it's not that I was avoiding them but I had the impression all this time that they were a Worthy American Indie Rock Band From the Heartland or the like and so I was mostly thinking "Hm, yeah, I guess I'll check them out one of these days I guess." Then the main guy at my local coffee place was raving about "Processed By the Boys" yesterday and played it at me and I was all "Oh...wait they're angry goths without the makeup." And that I'm very good with.

Well, the do lack on the melody department. Closer to spoken word sometimes (Mark E Smith anyone?)

― nostormo, Wednesday, July 22, 2020 5:17 PM (one month ago)

The Melody Department would be a good name for a band (not this band though)

The drumming is great but also the main reason they sometimes make me think of The National lately. Nice to see a musician note a Wild Beasts influence.

I've always felt a strong similarity w/ The National re: drumming, too. I'm only really super-familiar with Alligator but I feel like at least on that record, the deceptively simple-sounding, propulsive rhythms that are super minimal but still somehow function as the lead instrument in the band (to my ears, anyway) have always been what Protomartyr's drums remind me of.

have we talked enough about what a great lyricist Joe Casey is?

we have not. I went looking for a juicy quote from Ultimate Success Today but half the fun really is in his delivery.

When the ending comes, is it gonna run at us like a wild-eyed animal?
A foreign disease washed upon the beach
A dagger plunged from out of the shadows
A cosmic grief beyond all comprehension
All good laid low by outside evil
Against belief, a riot in the streets
A giant beast turning mountains into black holes
Fiction! Fiction!
No, none of that, rolling in your heads
Reality has a far duller edge

I recall seeing the pope
Pontiac 1987
Money changing between hands
Outside the Silverdome
Afterwords a riot broke
Old folks turned brutish
Trampling their way out the gates
Towards heaven

One of my very favorite songs (even after I realized that it reminds me of Interpol)

it has already been posted above but this is an all-time lmao:

There's the failed lawyer haunting teen-punk shows
He'll explain his top 5 for 09 and what to eat
But, if you ever saw his bald-skull head
You'd be certain he'd been dead for weeks

And that's the story of the happy thief who provided content
To that ceaseless chill-out stream

stop-stop-hes-already-dead.gif

Universal Success Whatever is easily their worst record. Lacks the mystery. And the tunes. I love this band. It's like when you get tired of your favorite sandwich.

All of a sudden they're not a puzzle.

Jack My Fruit. Now motherfucker. Or else.

new album in June! first single, "Make Way"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc2bqR33RNM

Good to hear. Was a little worried about the guy after a pandemic interview where he seemed really down about being stuck home.

feels like the new album kind of snuck out, haven't really seen any reviews or reactions. i like it, seems like they're stretching their boundaries a bit in terms of songwriting and arrangements while still sounding like protomartyr

Keep wanting to say something like “wow that run from Polacrilex to Rain Garden is an amazing expansion of their sound” but then I’d be leaving out the other half of the record lol

Yeah, I really like this one a lot.

i'm in