Protomartyr Release New Single "Elimination Dances"

Protomartyr Release New Single "Elimination Dances"

Protomartyr — the Detroit post-punk band composed of Joe Casey (vocals), Greg Ahee (guitar), Alex Leonard (percussion), and Scott Davidson (bass) — “are sounding as vital as ever” (Stereogum). Today, the quartet presents their new single/video, “Elimination Dances,” from their anticipated forthcoming album, Formal Growth In The Desert, out June 2nd on Domino. Post-quarantine, Casey and his bandmates regrouped with a sense of uncertainty, questioning if and how to continue after the turbulence of the pandemic years. They found themselves using that ambivalence to hone a song they named after a chapter from a 1950’s teen dance manual. “Elimination Dances” refers to a game where “you get tapped out when you lose the dance,” and that felt an apt metaphor for just surviving. Life is a struggle, but “you might as well keep dancing until the tap comes,” Casey says.  

Following lead single “Make Way,” “a tense waltz that explodes into a boisterous anthem” (The FADER), “Elimination Dances” is presented alongside a video directed by Yoonha Park, and features dancer Kota Yamazaki. “My dad once told me ‘Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end the faster it goes,’” explains Park. “That idea along with the lyrics led to the idea of a choreographic pattern that repeats as it grows outward in an expanding spiral. The choreography repeats with each cycle but has to be danced faster and faster to keep pace with the ‘pale youth’ until eventually devolving into chaos. I recently learned that the toilet paper quote was actually by Andy Rooney.”


Protomartyr Formal Growth In The Desert

Album | 2nd June 2023

Since 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. The group’s sixth album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, TX with producer Jake Aron. “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. But life does go on, and Casey describes the great theme of Formal Growth In The Desert as an embrace and acknowledgment of that fact: a 12-song testament to “getting on with life,” even when it feels impossibly hard.

Tracklisting

  • 1Make Way
  • 2For Tomorrow
  • 3Elimination Dances
  • 4Fun In Hi Skool
  • 5Let's Tip the Creator
  • 6Graft Vs. Host
  • 73800 Tigers
  • 8Polacrilex Kid
  • 9Fulfillment Center
  • 10We Know the Rats
  • 11The Author
  • 12Rain Garden

Protomartyr Formal Growth In The Desert

Album | 2nd June 2023

Since 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. The group’s sixth album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, TX with producer Jake Aron. “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. But life does go on, and Casey describes the great theme of Formal Growth In The Desert as an embrace and acknowledgment of that fact: a 12-song testament to “getting on with life,” even when it feels impossibly hard.

Tracklisting

  • 1Make Way
  • 2For Tomorrow
  • 3Elimination Dances
  • 4Fun In Hi Skool
  • 5Let's Tip the Creator
  • 6Graft Vs. Host
  • 73800 Tigers
  • 8Polacrilex Kid
  • 9Fulfillment Center
  • 10We Know the Rats
  • 11The Author
  • 12Rain Garden
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