8 July 2026
Photo by Turn Up The Volume
It’s been 3 years since PROTOMARTYR, directed by the thirsty frontman and literary
lyricist Joe Casey, released their stellar 6th LP, named Formal Growth In The Desert.
The band announced an extensive 2026/27 tour.
No sign of a new album yet. Although I’m pretty
sure that the eagle below is a hint for the next
LP’s front cover.
Ticket info here (ignore the hotel, scroll downwards).
30 December 2023
Well, another year has come to an end. A year stuffed with a tsunami of striking tunes
and stunning albums, as TUTV already displayed on its 2023 best-tracks and best-albums lists.
But that was just a fraction of this past year’s superb music extravaganza. Let’s go out with
a big bang. 20 Top Tunes from 20 Top Albums that made our ears go bonkers in 2023.
ALL TOGETHER
.
TRACK BY TRACK
Artist: PJ HARVEY (UK)
Track: The Nether-edge
Album: I Inside The Old Year Dying
Instagram
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Band: THE MURDER CAPITAL (Dublin, Ireland)
Track: Return My Head
Album: Gigi’s Recovery
Instagram
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(Photo by Turn Up The Volume – The Netherlands , 2023)
Band: DREAM WIFE (UK)
Track: Leech
Album: Social Lubrication
Instagram
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Band: COACH PARTY (Isle Of Wight, UK)
Track: What’s The Point In Life
Album: Killjoy
Instagram
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Band: FUCKED UP (Toronto, CA)
Track: Nothing’s Immortal
Album: One Day
.
Instagram
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Band: SWIMWEAR DEPARTMENT (Houston, Texas)
Track: We Need A Place
Album: The Poolest Of The Mall
.
Instagram
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Band: S O R O R (Belgium)
Track: Shadow Of A Doubt
Album: New Born
.
Instagram
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(Photo by Turn Up The Volume, Brussels, 2023)
Band: THE PSYCHOTIC MONKS (France)
Track: Crash
Album: Pink Colour Surgery
Instagram
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Band: VIOLET NOX (Boston)
Track: Senzor
Album: Vortex And Voices
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(Photo by Turn Up The Volume, Belgium)
Band: PROTOMARTYR (Detroit, MI)
Track: Fulfillment Center
Album: Formal Growth In The Desert
.
Instagram
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Band: EATING RAINBOWS (Belgium)
Track: Smile
Album: Yep Yep Yep
.
Instagram
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Band: PHUTURE MEMORIEZ (Vancouver, British Columbia)
Track: Mouth Yellow
Album: Play Cobra
.
Instagram
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Band: CAMLANN (Indonesia)
Track: Your Death Is My Glory
Album: Dismantle!
Instagram
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Band: 100 GECS (St. Louis, US)
Track: Hollywood Baby
Album: 10,000 gecs
Instagram
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Band: WARGASM (UK)
Track: Do It So Good
Album: Venom
Band: FILIBUSTER (Belgium)
Track: A Problem (In A)
Album: Quiet Part Out Loud
.
Instagram
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Band: MILK TV (Belgium)
Track: Paint Boy
Album: Neo Geo
.
Instagram
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Band: FERAL FIVE
Track: Truth Is The New Gold
Album: Truth Is The New Gold
Instagram
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Band: MELODY FIELDS (Sweden)
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Instagram
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Artist: JOHN CALE (Wales)
Track: Story Of Blood
Album: Mercy
Standout longplayers
3 June 2023
Detroit‘s post-punk eccentrics PROTOMARTYR unleashes their
new, 6th LP named FORMAL GROWTH IN THE DESERT yesterday.
Order info here.
It was recorded at the Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, TX with producer Jake Aron.
The songs came from a period of colossal transition for frontman/songwriter Joe 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.
AllMusic: “As great as the band is, it’s the vocals and lyrics of Joe Casey that set Protomartyr apart from their peers. The melodies are as straightforward and muscular as ever, with more graceful structures yet executed with the precision and dynamics that makes their music so satisfying. Protomartyr would almost certainly have sounded like nay-sayers even in America’s salad days, but in 2023 Formal Growth in the Desert plays like another State of the Union essay from this band of intelligent malcontents, and what they have to say is strikingly effective as editorial commentary and as music.” Score: 4.5/5.
TUTV: Joe Casey‘s troubled soul and ongoing swing moods push this new full-length
to a remarkably emotional place, sonically as well as lyrically. Protomartyr at their
knife-edged best.
Singles/clips: Polacrilex Kid / Make Way / Elimination Dances
– POLACRILEX KID –
– MAKE WAY –
– ELIMINATION DANCES –
FULL ALBUM
PROTOMARTYR: Facebook – Instagram
Let’s drink to the new album (pic by Turn Up The Volume)
Detroit‘s post-punk mavericks PROTOMARTYR unleash
their 6th LP named FORMAL GROWTH IN THE DESERT
tomorrow.
They just announced tour dates with this awesome poster.
Newest single.
PROTOMARTYR: Facebook – Instagram
30 May 2023
Detroit‘s post-punk mavericks PROTOMARTYR are back and ready to unleash their new, 6th LP named FORMAL GROWTH IN THE DESERT. It lands this Friday. Pre-order info here.
Thirsty frontman Joe Casey (pic by Turn Up The Volume)
Ahead of its release, the band released three stunning
singles with the newest Polacrilex Kid shared today.
– POLACRILEX KID –
– MAKE WAY –
– ELIMINATION DANCES –
All 3 on Spotify.
.
PROTOMARTYR: Facebook – Instagram
Daily noise that works faster than a gallon of caffeine
8 March 2023
Frontman Joe Casey – Photo by Turn Up The Volume
Detroit‘s post-punk misfits PROTOMARTYR are back and ready to unleash their new, 6th LP named FORMAL GROWTH IN THE DESERT. It lands on June 2. Pre-order info here.
The album’s stunning artwork
TRACKLIST
01 “Make Way”
02 “For Tomorrow”
03 “Elimination Dances”
04 “Fun In Hi Skool”
05 “Let’s Tip The Creator”
06 “Graft Vs. Host”
07 “3800 Tigers”
08 “Polacrilex Kid”
09 “Fulfillment Center”
10 “We Know The Rats”
11 “The Author”
12 “Rain Garden”
The first single called MAKE WAY is a quiet/Loud/quiet rollercoaster.
Every time you think that frontman
Joe Casey will explode he comes down again.
Make way for Protomartyr.
Protomartyr: Facebook – Instagram
LEVITATION FEST 2022
October 27-30 (indoors)
4 TUTV Picks
(one for each day/
– PROTOMARTYR –
(Thursday 27 October)
– GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR –
(Friday 28 October)
– SEXTILE –
– COLD CAVE –
LEVITATION FESTIVAL
Austin, Texas
27/30 October 2022
4 TUTV picks
(one for each day)
– PROTOMARTYR
(Thu 27 October)
– VIAGRA BOYS –
(Fri 28 October)
– SHAME –
!Sat 29 October)
– THE BLACK ANGELS –
(Sun 30 October)
17 July 2020
Band: Protomartyr (Detroit, US)
Album: Ultimate Success Today – fifth LP
Released: 10 July 2020
Info: ‘Ultimate Success Today’ is the band’s fifth album. Following the release of Relatives In Descent, the band’s critically acclaimed headlong dive into the morass of American life in 2017, Ultimate Success Today continues to further expand the possibilities of what a Protomartyr album can sound like.
The Guardian says: “With stadium rock riffs and saxophone over lyrics about riots and respirators, the Detroit post-punks are the soundtrack of an uncertain future… They’re capable of unleashing pulverising guitar noise, but they’re not reliant on it. The music sounds affectingly ragged and drained – emotions that again feel perfect for the current moment – while the lyrics flip-flop between something approaching faint optimism (“hope you walk through life with a smile”) and something darker and dejected: “Remember me, how I lived / I was frightened, always frightened.” It’s music for uncertain times, something Protomartyr seem to be almost eerily skilled at producing.” Full review here. Score: 4/5.
Key phrase: “In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” – George Orwell
Singles: Processed by The Boys / Worm In Heaven / Michigan Hammers
– PROCESSED BY THE BOYS –
– WORM IN HEAVEN –
– MICHIGAN HAMMERS –
Full album…
.
PROTOMARTYR: Facebook
(photo by Turn Up The Volume!)
New sonic impulses…
12 March 2020
(photo Turn Up The Volume!)
Detroit’s post-punk misfits PROTOMARTYR announced new album ‘ULTIMATE SUCCESS TODAY’, out in May. Frontman and full-time cynical world observer Joe Casey says about their fifth record “a possible valediction of some confusingly loud five-act play.”
Here’s lead single ‘PROCESSED BY THE BOYS’. A brutal jackhammer, a slow-mo ebullition with a wall-of-pounding hubbub backing Casey’s drunken voice tackling humanity in his own razor-sharp way. The video (below) was influence by Brazilian TV footage the band seems to become obsessed with…
PROTOMARTYR: Facebook
New album ‘ULTIMATE SUCCESS TODAY’ out 29th May – all info here