Protomartyr - Night 1

*All events are 21+ valid ID required for entry*


8PM - Doors

9PM - Show

Second Show Added Due To Popular Demand!

Two Nights of Protomartyr at Johnny Brenda’s — June 17th & 18th!

Click here for tickets to the June 18th show!

PROTOMARTYR

There is darkness in the poetry of Ultimate Success Today, Protomartyr’s fifth album. The theme of things ending, above all human existence, is present and reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’. ‘Day Without End’, the first song, sets the tone for the whole album. “This is the dawning of the day without end / when fear steps into light”. The music here sounds delicate, airy and at the same time carried by an insistent, light, metallic drum part by Alex Leonard and a punctuating bass line by Scott Davidson. There are exquisite, subtle gifts from other instruments that always heighten the guitar, instead of fighting with it. They help to create a harmonious wall of sound all of its own. This was intentional. Greg Ahee wanted to use different textures other than pedals, and the drone quality of some of those instruments colours the guitar and the whole sound with a warm, rich in reverb, yet all-consuming landscape for Joe Casey’s voice. The album was recorded in a late 19th century church Dreamland Recording Studios in upstate New York, which still has its original high arched ceilings, creating a natural and eerie reverb. Protomartyr co-produced these songs with David Tolomei, who thought they would capture the essence of the place. The quality of sound enhances the idea of disappearance, of dissolving away through the high ceiling. Sometimes it brings us back to life and “Everybody’s hunted with a smile / being processed by the boys”. And it sounds like “a riot in the streets”.