Formal Growth in the Desert
Protomartyr’s slurred ramblings and miasmic clouds of guitar have always had a touch of the apocalypse in them, or at least of the decay that might lead there. The paradox is how the Detroit band manages to make that decay sound so grand. New Wave rippers (“For Tomorrow”) and leather-jacket music (“Fun in Hi Skool”), ’50s slow dances (“Make Way”) and jock jams for the recently undead (“Polacrilex Kid”): Where some post-punk bands lean into their artiness and Eurocentrism, Protomartyr sound like Midwesterners raised on arena rock and the looming intensity of Bible stories. “Welcome to the haunted earth/The living afterlife,” Joe Casey moans at the album\'s onset. He’s grinding his teeth under the bleachers as we speak.
Under a gray sky of grief, the Detroit post-punks’ sixth album makes space for skulking grooves, shoegaze-y experimentation, and a Baja Blast that’s always half full.
With Formal Growth In The Desert, Protomartyr stand tall as a testament to the enduring spirit of innovation that defines Detroit's rich musical history.
The Detroit post-punks deliver a gritty treatise on the struggle, joy and progression of life — read the NME review
Their balancing act between decay and rebirth, love and hate, takes on an even sharper focus.
Ever since they released No Passion All Technique in 2012, Protomartyr have been a band more than a little obsessed with ranting about a world gone wrong, as seen from their window in one of Detroit's less scenic neighborhoods.
Sonically, the sixth album from Detroit-post-punk-quartet Protomartyr is one of their densest efforts yet, and features frontman Joe Casey's finest vocals.
On Formal Growth in the Desert, Protomartyr's Joe Casey takes the band in a direction it's never gone before: toward love. The band's sixth...
Formal Growth In The Desert by Protomartyr album review: as trends have come and gone, this band prove form is temporary, class is permanent
‘Formal Growth in the Desert’ expands the scope of Protomartyr’s music by incorporating disparate styles and dynamics. Read our review.
In 'Formal Growth in the Desert', Protomartyr have subtly evolved their sound into something not as claustrophobically volatile as previous efforts.
Formal Growth In The Desert by Protomartyr album review by Ryan Meyer. The Detroit band's full-length drops on June 2nd via Domino Records