Protomartyr (band)

Prior to Protomartyr, Greg Ahee and Alex Leonard performed as a duo under the name Butt Babies. They later started playing with Joe Casey as Protomartyr. Kevin Boyer of Tyvek played bass and guitar in the band for a short time. In 2010, Scott Davidson joined on bass. [1][2]

The band released their debut album, No Passion All Technique in 2012 via Urinal Cake Records.[2] This was followed by the single "Colpi Proibiti" in the same year, via X! Records.[2] Their second studio album, Under Color of Official Right, was released in April 2014 via the Hardly Art record label.[3] A third studio album, The Agent Intellect, followed in October 2015.[4] The album was critically acclaimed, achieving an 85/100 on accumulator website Metacritic,[5] and featured in best of 2015 lists in The A.V. Club,[6] Chicago Tribune,[7] Rolling Stone,[8] Metacritic,[9] Spin,[10] and Consequence of Sound.[11]

Protomartyr signed to Domino Records in 2017, and released their fourth studio album, Relatives in Descent, on the label in September 2017.[12] The group's fifth album, Ultimate Success Today, was originally scheduled to follow in May 2020,[13] but was subsequently postponed to that July due to the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.[14] Kelley Deal, who had appeared on the band's 2018 EP Consolation, appeared as a special guest at the first three shows of the 2020 tour, though it is currently unknown if she will remain as a touring member when live performances resume.[15][16]

Protomartyr's music has been labeled as post-punk[1][17][18][19][20] and punk rock.[20] Josh Terry of Consequence of Sound stated that the band "blends the moody atmospherics of ‘70s U.K. post-punk with the raw sensibility of their Motor City garage-rock forebears."[19] The band's sound was compared to other post-punk acts such as Wire, the Fall, Pere Ubu, the Constantines and Iceage,[1][21] as well as local acts, most notably Tyvek.[20] Vocalist Joe Casey also expressed appreciation for Pere Ubu and the Fall.[1][2] His baritone vocals have been compared to Ian Curtis of Joy Division, Mark E. Smith of the Fall, and Nick Cave.[2][19][22][23]

Protomartyr have been cited as an influence by bands such as Shame,[24] Idles,[25] Priests,[26] The Dirty Nil,[27] Vundabar,[28] Meat Wave,[29] Rendez-Vous,[30] Dehd[31] and The Devil Wears Prada.[32] In addition, notable fans of the band include Metz,[33] Cloud Nothings,[34] Eternal Summers,[35] FRIGS,[36] Fontaines D.C.,[37] Bully,[38] Parquet Courts,[39] David Bazan,[40] Kelley Deal,[41] Greg Dulli,[42][43] Billy Gould,[44] Ana da Silva,[45] and Iggy Pop - who called them "the best band we’ve got in America right now".[46][47]

In an interview with Beats Per Minute in August 2020, Casey revealed that the lyric "shouted slogans of leapers" from the track "The Aphorist" off of Ultimate Success Today is a reference to "the young bands [that] I feel are attacking us and doing a shitty job at it, or a watered down version of us. But then the next line is “Why didn’t I smash the copier when I was through?” Because, when we started, people accused us of copying bands and not being original. So who am I complaining about those shitty bands when once I was a copier?"[48]

• Protomartyr on Facebook
• Protomartyr on Hardly Art official website