{"title":"Protomartyr","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA post-punk band hailing from Detroit, Michigan, USA, Protomartyr has established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the music scene. With their unique blend of raw energy and thought-provoking lyrics, they have captivated audiences worldwide.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFormed in [year], Protomartyr quickly gained recognition for their powerful live performances and critically acclaimed albums. Their sound is characterized by intense guitar riffs, driving rhythms, and frontman Joe Casey's distinctive vocals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eProtomartyr's music explores themes of societal unrest, existentialism, and the human condition. Their lyrics delve deep into introspection while offering social commentary on issues that resonate with listeners.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"ultimate-success-today-love-record-stores-variant","title":"Ultimate Success Today (Love Record Stores Variant)","description":"\u003cp\u003eProtomartyr release their fifth album, \u003ci\u003eUltimate Success Today,\u003c\/i\u003e on Domino. Following the release of \u003ci\u003eRelatives In Descent\u003c\/i\u003e, the band’s critically acclaimed headlong dive into the morass of American life in 2017, \u003ci\u003eUltimate Success Today\u003c\/i\u003e continues to further expand the possibilities of what a Protomartyr album can sound like.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eUltimate Success Today\u003c\/i\u003e was recorded at Dreamland Recording Studios, a late 19th century church, in upstate New York and co-produced by the band and David Tolomei (Dirty Projectors, Beach House) with mixing by Tolomei. Featured guest musicians on the album include Nandi Rose (vocals) a.k.a. Half Waif, jazz legend Jemeel Moondoc (alto sax), Izaak Mills (bass clarinet, sax, flute), and Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domino","offers":[{"title":"Red | LP","offer_id":50417047077195,"sku":"1108454","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a82b8ecf-82e6-48d2-ada7-5f1dccc45e9a_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726714792"},{"product_id":"ultimate-success-today","title":"Ultimate Success Today","description":"\u003cp\u003eProtomartyr release their fifth album, \u003ci\u003eUltimate Success Today,\u003c\/i\u003e on Domino. Following the release of \u003ci\u003eRelatives In Descent\u003c\/i\u003e, the band’s critically acclaimed headlong dive into the morass of American life in 2017, \u003ci\u003eUltimate Success Today\u003c\/i\u003e continues to further expand the possibilities of what a Protomartyr album can sound like. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eUltimate Success Today\u003c\/i\u003e was recorded at Dreamland Recording Studios, a late 19th century church, in upstate New York and co-produced by the band and David Tolomei (Dirty Projectors, Beach House) with mixing by Tolomei. Featured guest musicians on the album include Nandi Rose (vocals) a.k.a. Half Waif, jazz legend Jemeel Moondoc (alto sax), Izaak Mills (bass clarinet, sax, flute), and Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello).\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domino","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50465888043339,"sku":"1091266","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Blue | LP","offer_id":50465888338251,"sku":"1091267","price":21.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50465888731467,"sku":"1091265","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/1fa12dd8-05d2-49c5-848c-6aec18dcbc45_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727298396"},{"product_id":"formal-growth-in-the-desert","title":"Formal Growth In The Desert","description":"\u003cp\u003eSince their 2012 debut, Protomartyr have mastered the art of evoking place: the grinding Midwest humility of their hometown, as well as the x-rayed elucidation of America that comes with their vantage. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe group’s sixth album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, TX with producer Jake Aron. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The desert is more of a metaphor or symbol,” singer Joe Casey says, “of emotional deserts, or a place or time that seems to lack life.” The “growth” came from a period of colossal transition for Casey, including the death of his mother. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut life does go on, and Casey describes the great theme of \u003ci\u003eFormal Growth In The Desert\u003c\/i\u003e as an embrace and acknowledgment of that fact: a 12-song testament to “getting on with life,” even when it feels impossibly hard.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAll pre orders win the chance of getting a signed A3 proof on high-quality paper stock of a lyric page.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domino","offers":[{"title":"Blue LP","offer_id":50466467217739,"sku":"2015319","price":29.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50466466857291,"sku":"2015072","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50466467053899,"sku":"2015073","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Screenshot_2023-03-06_at_12.20.55_f7fd7b29_thumbnail_4096.png?v=1727314161"},{"product_id":"under-color-of-official-right","title":"Under Color of Official Right","description":"\u003cp\u003eProtomartyr's economical rock elicits comparisons to possible antecedents like Pere Ubu, Wire or The Fall as well as local contemporaries like Frustration or Tyvek (whose frontman Kevin Boyer played bass in an early iteration of Protomartyr). Where 2012's \u003ci\u003eNo Passion All Technique\u003c\/i\u003e favoured comparatively straight forward punk structures, \u003ci\u003eUnder Color,\u003c\/i\u003e their second full length, and Hardly Art debut, takes a more exploratory approach. \u003ci\u003eTarpeian Rock\u003c\/i\u003e places punk vitriol against a minimalist backing and \u003ci\u003eScum, Rise!\u003c\/i\u003e casts shadows with guitars that alternately chime and clang.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hardly Art","offers":[{"title":"LP","offer_id":50466791522635,"sku":"373566","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50466791653707,"sku":"373564","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/Under_Color_of_Official_Right_7f041f61_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727322089"},{"product_id":"the-agent-intellect","title":"The Agent Intellect","description":"\u003cp\u003eFantastic and one of the albums of 2015. \u003ci\u003eThe Agent Intellect\u003c\/i\u003e is Protomartyr's third and finest work to date. Named after an ancient philosophical questioning of how the mind operates in relation to the self, it's an elegant and often devastating display of all that makes Protomartyr so vital and singularly visceral an outfit. Over the course of several months, Greg Ahee waded through more than a hundred song fragments until he reached the bottomless melodies of \u003ci\u003eI Forgive You\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eClandestine Time\u003c\/i\u003e, the inky depths of \u003ci\u003ePontiac '87\u003c\/i\u003e and titanic churn of \u003ci\u003eWhy Does It Shake?\u003c\/i\u003e. Lyrically, Casey is at his most confident and haunting. He humanizes evil on \u003ci\u003eThe Devil in His Youth\u003c\/i\u003e, and, amid the charred pop of \u003ci\u003eDope Cloud\u003c\/i\u003e, he reassures us that nothing - not God, not money - can or will prevent our minds from unraveling until we finally fade away. We are no one and nothing, he claims, without our thoughts. It's a theme that echoes through the entirety of the record, but never as beautifully as it does on \u003ci\u003eEllen\u003c\/i\u003e. Named after his mother and written from the perspective of his late father, it's as romantic a song as you're likely to hear this or any year, Casey promising to wait for her on the other side, with the memories she's lost safely in hand. For fans of The Fall, Interpol and Total Control.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Hardly Art","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50466963718475,"sku":"391892","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50466963751243,"sku":"391893","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/The_Agent_Intellect_2b40943e_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727333160"},{"product_id":"relatives-in-descent","title":"Relatives in Descent","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eProtomartyr return with their first album on \u003ci\u003eDomino Records\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter a year of extensive touring in support of 2015’s \u003ci\u003eThe Agent Intellect\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/roughtrade.com\/us\/artist\/protomartyr\"\u003eProtomartyr\u003c\/a\u003e returned to their practice space in a former optician's office in Southwest Detroit. Guitarist Greg Ahee - inspired by The Raincoats' \u003ci\u003eOdyshape\u003c\/i\u003e, Mica Levi's orchestral compositions, and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/roughtrade.com\/us\/artist\/protomartyr\"\u003eProtomartyr's\u003c\/a\u003e recent collaboration with post-punk legends \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/roughtrade.com\/gb\/artist\/the-pop-group\"\u003eThe Pop Group\u003c\/a\u003e, for Rough Trade's 40th anniversary—began writing new music that artfully expanded on everything they’d recorded up until that point. The result is \u003ci\u003eRelatives in Descent\u003c\/i\u003e, their fourth full-length and \u003ci\u003eDomino\u003c\/i\u003e debut. Though not a concept album, it presents twelve variations on a theme: the unknowable nature of truth, and the existential dread that often accompanies that unknowing. This, at a moment when disinformation and garbled newspeak have become a daily reality.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ehttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cszKBuWVGWw\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domino","offers":[{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50470033949003,"sku":"1014169","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50470034538827,"sku":"1014168","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP","offer_id":50470035030347,"sku":"1014170","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/a648f87f-68a8-466a-97b3-054cbd1da846_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727371413"},{"product_id":"consolation-ep","title":"Consolation EP","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProtomartyr\u003c\/strong\u003e release a new EP \u003cem\u003eConsolation\u003c\/em\u003e, which they recorded in part with friend Kelley Deal. Two of the four songs feature Deal on vocals alongside singer Joe Casey.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe EP was recorded by Deal's R.Ring bandmate Mike Montgomery and expands \u003cstrong\u003eProtomartyr\u003c\/strong\u003e's arrangements with strings and woodwinds.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAvailable formats include 12\" - Black Vinyl with Four Page Booklet and Download, and 12\"+ - Limited Yellow Vinyl with Four Page Booklet and Download.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domino","offers":[{"title":"12\"","offer_id":50497478787403,"sku":"1035664","price":17.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50497481408843,"sku":"1035667","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/d52d7ae2-49c6-45da-99c0-c8f02c6aded5_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727728182"},{"product_id":"no-passion-all-technique","title":"No Passion All Technique","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eProtomartyr\u003c\/strong\u003e can finally answer what is probably their most frequently asked question: “When are you going to reissue your first album?” \u003cem\u003eNo Passion All Technique\u003c\/em\u003e has long been something of a mystery. Not available on streaming services; long out of print (and going for ridiculous prices on auction sites), why was this album so elusive?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhen \u003cstrong\u003eProtomartyr\u003c\/strong\u003e - vocalist Joe Casey, guitarist Greg Ahee, bassist Scott Davidson, drummer Alex Leonard - stepped into a studio together for the first time, in November of 2011, they didn’t know they were about to record an album. With only four hours of studio time booked and one case of beer between them, their plan was to walk out with enough songs for a seven-inch single. Instead, at the suggestion of engineer Chris Koltay, the newly formed Detroit outfit recorded as much as they possibly could, in what little time they had.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSold out and out of print shortly after its original release on Urinal Cake Records in October 2012, \u003cem\u003eNo Passion All Technique\u003c\/em\u003e is a sometimes-messy look at one of rock’s most magnetic bands - and lyricists - just as they were coming to life. Primal, cerebral, heartbreaking, funny - it’s an accidental tour de force that’s also become an unlikely collector’s item.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e“My memory is shot,” Casey says, “but I appreciate now, looking back, how raw and off-the-cuff it was. There’s tons of mistakes in it and that wasn’t because we planned on it. We still can’t really admit that it’s as good as it is. You never want to say that your first is the best, but I’m happy that the first ended up not being terrible. 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This is not easy listening, but it feels essential.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eOver two decades, \u003cstrong\u003eProtomartyr\u003c\/strong\u003e have built a remarkable body of work by moving through darkness and confronting what frightens, saddens, disgusts and enrages us. Here, \u003cstrong\u003eJoe Casey\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eAlex Leonard\u003c\/strong\u003e, \u003cstrong\u003eScott Davidson\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eGreg Ahee\u003c\/strong\u003e sound utterly locked in.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCasey\u003c\/strong\u003e imagines America as an ageing hotel, each song a room haunted by its own guest: modern paralysis on \u003cem\u003eSounds We Cannot Hear\u003c\/em\u003e, AI on \u003cem\u003eFeed the Sewer\u003c\/em\u003e, deportation on \u003cem\u003eThird Country\u003c\/em\u003e, warped patriotism on \u003cem\u003eExalted Eagles\u003c\/em\u003e, violence on \u003cem\u003eThe Knife Dream\u003c\/em\u003e, JD Vance on \u003cem\u003eConverts\u003c\/em\u003e, and fatherhood on \u003cem\u003eChecking Out\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMusically, \u003cstrong\u003eAhee\u003c\/strong\u003e draws on Middle Eastern sounds and '50s exotica, while \u003cstrong\u003eFridmann\u003c\/strong\u003e gives everything extra weight and clarity. \u003cstrong\u003eLeonard\u003c\/strong\u003e's drumming is especially striking, and horns from \u003cstrong\u003eJon Fridmann\u003c\/strong\u003e add another vivid layer. \u003cstrong\u003eProtomartyr\u003c\/strong\u003e have rarely sounded more powerful.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Domino","offers":[{"title":"LP - Gold","offer_id":57910619996491,"sku":"R3433-4919","price":27.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":57910620029259,"sku":"R3433-5066","price":26.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":57910620062027,"sku":"R3433-1097","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/HotelUsona_CVR_3000.jpg?v=1784624584"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/collections\/test_1461b5ad_thumbnail_4096_cfb61a8f-6891-44ea-b7aa-d3d9f1526de6.jpg?v=1726714772","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/protomartyr.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}