Protomartyr is an art/post-punk band from Detroit, Michigan consisting of guitarist Greg Ahee, drummer Alex Leonard, bassist Scott Davidson & frontman Joe Casey. Releasing their debut No Passion All Technique in 2012, the sophomore effort & Under Color of Official Right & The Agent Intellect under Sub Pop Records would turn more heads & Relatives in Descent has become their most celebrated material yet. Coming off both Ultimate Success Today & Formal Growth in the Desert though, the teasers for their 7th studio LP had me more excited than either of it’s predecessors.
“The Old Hotel” kicks things off with this post-punk intro likening the US to a hotel that’s been neglected for a long period of time whereas the lead single “Sounds We Cannot Hear” blends post-punk, noise rock & art rock to sing about tinnitus. “Converts” makes brutal critiques towards JD Vance & Peter Thiel respectively but once the 3rd & final single “Exalted Eagles” fuses art rock & post-punk to condemn the rise of fascism, “The Knife Dream” could go down amongst Protomartyr’s most haunting tracks.
Meanwhile on “Feed the Sewer”, we have Joe & company fusing noise rock as well as post-punk & post-hardcore for a warning regarding the dangers of AI just before “Lavender – Gospel” breaks down the AI database system used against Palestinians in accelerating the Gaza genocide. “3rd Country” winds down the last few moments of Hotel Usonadetailing the heartbreaking reality of families being separated via deportation & “Checking Out” sends off the album singing about America making him & many others disillusioned.
12 months from now will already be an entire decade since Relatives in Descent revealed Protomartyr’s artistic evolution beyond the Under Color of Official Right & The Agent Intellect eras, but Hotel Usona has now dethroned it to become the most powerful musical statement in their 2 decades of existence. The post-punk, art rock, goth rock, noise rock & post-rock production doesn’t lose it’s richness at any point during the 45 minutes & they conceptually make a disturbingly realistic comparison between the state of this country for almost 2 years & an abandoned hotel rotting from within.
Score: 4.5/5
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