Protomartyr is a Detroit based four piece band that has been one of the major acts leading the current wave of post-punk revival in the US. The band showcases a really tight instrumental section and pairs it with a modern day bar room prophet in Joe Casey and his speak sing recitations of 1001 more reasons to be ticked off with the world. Alex Leonard and Scott Davidson lay down the perfectly matched complementary beats on drums and bass, while Greg Ahee does beautifully ominous chimes and bursts that sets Casey up to do his thing. Although the original blueprint for this dynamic was laid out a while back by bands like Joy Division in the past, it is remarkable how much Protomartyr makes it their own. Their basic sound has not changed at all since their first release, but the band has gotten better in execution and more visceral over the years.
A non-snarky and fed-up Mark E. Smith fronts Joy Division, reconceived as a blue collar band in the '10s Motor City as blue collar jobs are going away..