Protomartyr at the 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis (12 March 2016)

D||E photo: Amy

D||E is a four-piece consisting of former members of Fire in the Northern Firs and active Hollow Boys member/Ecstattic Studios owner and engineer Ali Jafaar – they’re also a band I’m looking forward to hearing more from. They released an EP last spring and are working on getting out a proper full length (aptly titled UFOs Satanic Terror). The band’s sound is hypnotic, very much rooted in space-y 70s rock.

The Cult of Lip photo: Amy

I’ve seen already seen The Cult of Lip at least twice this year (they opened for Ringo Deathstarr earlier this month) – I even saw them when they were known as VATS (how about that, right?) The trio features Hannah Porter on bass – recognize the name? That’s because she also plays in two other excellent bands, Brilliant Beast and Panther Ray. I love Cult of Lip for their fuzzy, free-wheeling, ear-drum-destroying noise-rock and you should to.

Protomartyr’s Setlist

Protomartyr’s music has a post-apocalyptic quality about it. Drummer Alex Leonard’s percussion is dry and unyielding, Scott Davidson’s bass is menacing and singer Joe Casey’s world-weary poetic ramblings conjure up images of a desperate, chaotic world. These songs, however, are not death waltzes to throw yourself into the grave to; rather they are anthems of survival. The quartet (Leonard, Davidson, Casey and fantastic guitarist Greg Ahee with his Fender Telecaster Thinline) walked on to the Entry’s famous stage and proceeded to hold the rapt sold out crowd in the palms of their hands. The intensity of the performance increased as the night surged on with powerful renditions of “Dope Cloud” and “The Hermit” from last year’s The Agent Intellect and “Scum, Rise!” From the band’s second album Under Color of Official Right (2014). But it was the two closing numbers that really made jaws drop: “Clandestine Time” followed by the chugging “Why Does It Shake?” (both from The Agent Intellect) saw the band completely lose themselves in the reverb-saturated sound. Casey himself, at first somewhat reserved and professor-like in his tweed jacket, jerked back and forth, incapable of holding back and punctured the air with the lyrics, “Why does it shake?/The body/Why does it move?/The fear.”



Protomartyr is heading to SXSW this month before bouncing from the US to Europe and back again this summer; their latest release is called The Agent Intellect.



Remaining tour dates:

Mar. 16 – Sat. Mar. 19 — Austin, TX @ SXSW Mar. 19 – San Antonio, TX @ Paper Tiger Mar. 31 — Dublin, IR @ Workman’s Club Apr. 1 — Liverpool, UK @ Magnet Apr. 2 — Glasgow, UK @ Broadcast Apr. 3 — Sheffield, UK @ Picture House Social Apr. 4 — London, UK @ 100 Club Apr. 5 — Reims, FR @ La Catonnerie Apr. 6 — Antwerp, BE @ Het Bos Apr. 7 — Groningen, NL @ Vera Apr. 8 — Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso Apr. 9 — Rotterdam, NL @ Motel Mozaigue Apr. 11 — Dusseldorf, DE @ Zakk Apr. 12 — Stuttgart, DE @ Club Schocken Apr. 13 — Munich, DE @ Oranjehouse Apr. 14 — St. Gallen, CH @ Palace Apr. 15 — Bologna, IT @ Covo Club Apr. 16 — Rome, IT @ Monk Apr. 18 — Ljubljana, SI @ Gala Hala

Apr. 19 — Zagreb, HR @ Culture Factory Apr. 20 — Vienne, AT @ Chelsea Apr. 21 — Prague, CZ @ Basement Bar Apr. 22 – Poznan, PL @ Spring Break Festival Apr. 23 – Berlin, DE @ Nothing Nice To Say May 3 – Guelph, ON @ eBar May 4 – Ottawa, ON @ Babylon Club May 5 – Montreal, QC @ Virtola May 7 – Winooski, VT @ Waking Windows May 8 – Allston, MA @ Great Scott May 9 – Portsmouth, NH @ 3S Artspace May 10 – Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place May 28 — George, WA @ Sasquatch Fest June 1 – June 5 – Primavera Sound June 3 – Nimes, FR @ This Is Not A Love Song June 9 – June 11 @ Primavera Sound Porto June 22 – June 23 @ Sled Island Festival June 29 – July 2 – Roskilde Festival Aug. 5-7 — Happy Valley, OR @ Pickathon