Protomartyr – Hotel Usona – Album Review
by Killian Laher

When Protomartyr first emerged, they seemed like a bog-standard post-punk band; however, the reality is a lot more complex than that.  They avoid the obvious routes and instead plough a fairly unpredictable furrow. This is the seventh album from the Detroit band, and maybe it’s the proliferation of horns throughout the album, but it seems this time they have swapped their customary anger for despair.

The atmosphere is definitely moodier than previously on the opening track The Old Hotel, which begins with lonesome guitar twangs and keyboards, with jazzy-sounding horns as a backdrop.  They kick the intensity up a notch or two with the equal parts snarling aggression and introspection on Sounds We Cannot Hear as Joe Casey laments “it’s just the buzzing in your ear”, while the band call back “you’ve got to earn a living”.

Greg Ahee’s insistent guitar lines introduce Converts, another moody, dim-lit track with smooth horns and keyboards thrown into the mix.  The caustic Exalted Eagles combines the laid-back brass with extremely intense shouting, with prominent brass being a feature of this and The Knife Dream.  Feed the Sewer barrels in with savage, barely concealed rage, crashing drums and foreboding strings.  After the downbeat Third Country, the album finishes with its longest track, Checking Out.  This is something of an epic, throwing in everything at the band’s disposal – military-style drumming, powerful guitar lines, Casey’s barked vocals and the ubiquitous horns.

It’s unlike any of their previous albums.  The songs are obtuse, knotty and very unusual and will take several listens to get into, but it’s an excellent album, and the use of horns throughout works surprisingly well.