Protomartyr are back. Last year, the Detroit post-punk band celebrated 10 years of The Agent Intellect with a live LP and anniversary shows, but their last proper album was 2023’s Formal Growth In The Desert. They’re announcing its followup, Hotel Usona, today.
The news comes with the release of the lead single “Sounds We Cannot Hear,” whose music video depicts a man getting hibachi by himself on his 38th birthday, doing coke in the bathroom, and getting into a fight. Said man is played by Nate Varrone (Maddie’s Secret, The Bear), and his performance is sufficiently unsettling.
But back to Protomartyr. Hotel Usona was recorded with Dave Fridmann (Sleater-Kinney, MGMT, the Flaming Lips) at his own Tarbox Road Studios in western New York. The press release includes some laud from Iggy Pop, who previously called Protomartyr “the best band we’ve got in America right now.” Here’s what he says:
What is a Protomartyr? I don’t really know, but I imagine it may refer to an earthly being who wants a little more than the usual shit out of life. A person or persons who want to be part of something beautiful and interesting, with the understanding that you may pay a price for that, and that others who come after will have an easier time. Kind of like Jesus.
So then there is Protomartyr the band. Four guys who are very, very skilled musicians and creators who I suspect would be totally fucked without the intervention of their talents, which are considerable. They are, to put it crudely, a kind of rock band out of Detroit. That’s a subject I know something about. And they’ve made a new album. It is highly themed and symphonic in its reach. I could call it a kind of drive-through Sgt. Peppers, but that would miss the mark. This record is Wagnerian, it reminds me very much of the Opera Tristan and Isolde (by Richard Wagner). Musically, it sounds modal, and kind of chromatic, like I imagine Celtic war horns might sound in some forgotten battle. The singer, Joe Casey, is blessed with a beautiful voice that you want to listen to, but he stays perverse enough to keep things interesting when he wants to get petulant or a little bitchy.
One of my favorite moments on the record is when he simply announces, all alone, “We got a bad review.” Which presides a furious outpouring from the entire group. Wow! I wish I thought of that! And in today’s world, how relatable! Who hasn’t gotten a bad review? Plumbers, shoe salesmen, etc etc etc. right up to Influencers. All is reviewed… I’m trying hard not to let this attempt at biography turn into a review, but hey, I’ve been listening to these guys for quite a while now and I get the feeling that they are a slow growth item, something that is gaining followers, listeners, and respect little by little, over the long haul. There’s a lot of content here. The four of them can shift rhythms and harmonics very, very smoothly in a way that seems effortless. It’s the mark of fine arts in a popular group.
Watch the “Sounds We Cannot Hear” video, directed by Harris Mayersohn and Danny Scharar, below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “The Old Hotel”
02 “Sounds We Cannot Hear”
03 “Converts”
04 “Exalted Eagles”
05 “The Knife Dream”
06 “Feed the Sewer”
07 “Lavender – Gospel”
08 “Third Country”
09 “Checking Out”
TOUR DATES:
10/19/26 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom *
10/20/26 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah *
10/22/26 – Los Angeles, CA @ Regent *
10/23/26 – San Jose, CA @ the Ritz *
10/24/26 – San Francisco, CA @ August Hall *
10/27/26 – Seattle, WA @ Neumos *
10/28/26 – Vancouver, BC @ The Pearl *
10/29/26 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin *
10/31/26 – Austin, TX @ Far Out Lounge ^
11/07/26 – Toronto, ON @ Concert Hall #
11/08/26 – Montreal, QC @ Les Foufounes Électriques #
11/10/26 – Boston, MA @ Crystal Ballroom #
11/11/26 – Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
11/12/26 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall #
11/13/26 – Washington, DC @ Black Cat #
11/14/26 – Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle #
11/15/26 – Asheville, NC @ Eulogy #
11/17/26 – Nashville, TN @ Basement East #
11/18/26 – St. Louis, MO @ Duck Room #
11/19/26 – Chicago @ Metro #
12/04/26 – Detroit, MI @ Majestic
02/11/27 – Leeds, UK @ Irish Center
02/12/27 – Glasgow, UK @ The Garage
02/13/27 – Manchester, UK @ Band on the Wall
02/15/27 – Bristol, UK @ The Lantern
02/16/27 – London, UK @ Electric Brixton
02/18/27 – Lille, FR @ L’Aeronef
02/19/27 – Paris, FR @ Le Trabendo
02/20/27 – Brussels, BE @ Le Botanique
02/22/27 – Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
02/23/27 – Hamburg, DE @ Bahnhof Pauli
02/24/27 – Copenhagen, DK @ Pumpehuset
02/26/27 – Berlin, DE @ Bi Nuu Club
02/27/27 – Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz
02/28/27 – Prague, CZ @ Meet Factory
* with Accessory
^ with the Jesus And Mary Chain
# with J.R.C.G
Hotel Usona is out 9/25 via Domino. Pre-order it here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source stereogum.com ’
