Acclaimed post-punk outfit brings tour to the Chapel in SF
SAN FRANCISCO -- One of the more celebrated modern bands to mine the dark, foreboding sounds of classic post-punk pays San Francisco a visit Saturday when Detroit-based group Protomartyr headlines the Chapel.
Initially working as a duo in 2008 under the unfortunate moniker Butt Babies, guitarist Greg Ahee and drummer Alex Leonard would be joined by singer Joe Boyd before eventually filling out the band with bassist Scott Davidson and adopting the name Protomartyr. The group would refine its post-punk sound around Casey's strident vocal incantations, nodding to the influential sounds of the Fall and Pere Ubu while still staying true to the raw, garage-punk roots of their native Motor City.
The band's 2012 debut effort No Passion All Technique maintained their grittier edges and earned the foursome their first round of positive press. By the time Protomartyr issued their sophomore album Under Cover of Official Right two years later, the group was adding more experimental atmospherics and smoothing out some of the rougher edges of their early work. In 2015, the band released another universally acclaimed collection, their bracing third album The Agent Intellect that furthered their mix of Casey's probing, philosophical musings and Protomartyr's dense thicket of reverb-heavy guitars.
Their creative hit streak continued with 2017's equally celebrated Relatives in Descent -- the band's first for new label Domino Records -- an subsequent EP Consolation featuring contributions from the Breeders' Kelley Deal. While it was recorded in 2019 prior to the COVID-19 shutdown which delayed its release, the band's 2020 effort Ultimate Success Today struck a chord among critics and fans alike amid the pandemic. The album was hailed for Casey's lyrical meditation on the passage of time and mortality as well as the group's more refined and dynamic musical approach.
The outfit released its latest collection of new material entitled Formal Growth in the Desert. Recorded over the space of just two weeks at a studio in a tiny West Texas border town, the album mines familiar dark territory in its propulsive anthems, but also offers a glimmer of hope for listeners. For this Saturday night show at the Chapel in San Francisco's Mission District, Protomartyr will be joined by opening LA-based experimental rapper immortal nightbody.
Protomartyr
Saturday, July 1, 8 p.m. $22-$25
The Chapel
