Album Review: Consolation [EP] by Protomartyr

On Consolation E.P. Detroit scum-rockers Protomartyr collaborate for the second time with R. Ring members Kelley Deal (also of The Breeders) and Mike Montgomery to create a four-song Black-Lodge-dream of personal and political apocalypse. On "Wait" singer Joe Casey pleads "Keep me above this filth" and while, instantly, you are reminded of The Jesus Lizard and The Fall as the scattershot venom drops from his lips, you are equally able to hear the huge influence this band has had on new, vital artists like Shame and Idles.

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Protomartyr's fourth album 'Relatives In Descent', released last year, was their best yet, a relentless barrage of intensity, intent on finding truth in an increasingly murky world. The search continues on new EP 'Consolation', which sees the band draft in Kelley Deal of The Breeders to guest on its final two tracks. Opener 'Wait' is the band on top form; Joe Casey's ever-distinctive growl is backed by guitars which switch with lightning-fast precision from swirling and heavy to hooky and sunny.

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As this decade progresses into its final third, after endless proclamations (some justified) that 'guitar music is dead', there are a small handful of bands (for this writer's money, at least) who have stood head and shoulders above the rest proving it's as valid and necessary as ever. One is Protomartyr, an intelligent, artful, creative and dominant American guitar-led indie rock band who have consistently bettered themselves as the decade, and their careers, have progressed, similar to the likes of Parquet Courts, Fucked Up or Self Defence Family. Consolation E.

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After releasing a split single with legendary Breeders guitarist Kelley Deal's newer band, R. Ring, in 2015, Detroit post-punks Protomartyr once again collaborate with the alt-rock queen on their new four-track release, Consolation E.P. She sings on two of the new EP's songs, and that all-too-fleeting taste will leave you immediately hankering for more.   Indeed, Deal's comparatively soothing backup vocals on "You Always Win," for instance, enthrallingly contrast with Protomartyr vocalist Joe Casey's gruff, Nick-Cave-meets-Mark ….

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