Protomartyr. Photo by Trevor Naud.
With their sixth studio album, Formal Growth In The Desert, due out June 2 via Domino, Detroit post-punk paragons Protomartyr have shared the record’s second offering, “Elimination Dances.” The song follows the forthcoming project’s lead single, “Make Way,” released last month with the LP’s announcement.
Where “Make Way” was bombastic and anthemic, “Elimination Dances” is a more simmering, anxious affair. “In the desert I was humbled / Seein’ what a thousand years of ice did,” Protomartyr’s frontman and chief lyricist Joe Casey sings above an ominous, marching drum line and slithery guitars. “But I’m not cold hearted / Little dogs still lick my hands.
“That’s how elimination dances / Through this life of mine,” he continues on the hook, ushering only a subtle tonal change in the intrepid instrumental. “That’s how elimination dances / The tap calls the time.” A post-chorus turnaround is the farthest the song moves from its dense, gravitational center. Like all the best post-punk, it stays tightly wound throughout.
The new song comes with a music video shot by Yoonha Park in a warehouse where Kota Yamazaki performs what appears to be the track’s titular elimination dance as the sun sets behind an overcast sky. Watch it below.
Formal Growth in the Desert album art
Formal Growth in the Desert tracklist
1. Make Way
2. For Tomorrow
3. Elimination Dances
4. Fun In Hi Skool
5. Let’s Tip the Creator
6. Graft Vs. Host
7. 3800 Tigers
8. Polacrilex Kid
9. Fulfillment Center
10. We Know the Rats
11. The Author
12. Rain Garden
Protomartyr summer 2023 tour dates
June 13 - Toronto, ON - Horseshoe Tavern
June 14 - Montreal, QC - Fairmount
June 16 - New York, NY - Bowery Ballroom
June 17 - Philadelphia, PA - Johnny Brenda’s
June 20 - Washington, DC - Black Cat
June 21 - Carrboro, NC - Cat’s Cradle
June 22 - Atlanta, GA - Terminal West
June 23 - Nashville, TN - Blue Room
June 24 - St. Louis, MO - Off Broadway
June 26 - Oklahoma City, OK - 89th Street
June 28 - Tucson, AZ - 191 Toole
June 29 - Santa Ana, CA - Constellation Room
July 1 - San Francisco, CA - The Chapel
July 2 - Santa Cruz, CA - Moe’s Alley
July 5 - Portland, OR - Wonder Ballroom
July 6 - Vancouver, BC - Cobalt
July 7 - Seattle, WA - Crocodile
July 8 - Spokane, WA - Lucky You
July 11 - St. Paul, MN - Turf Club
July 12 - Madison, WI - High Noon
July 13 - Chicago, IL - Thalia Hall
August 6 - Frankfurt, DE - Zoom
August 7 - Amsterdam, NL - Paradiso
August 9 - Brighton, UK - Concorde 2
August 10 - Nottingham, UK - Rescue Rooms
August 11 - Cardiff, UK - Clwb lfor Bach
August 12 - Leeds, UK - Brudenell Social Club
August 14 - Eindhoven, NL - Effenaar
August 15 - Hannover, DE - Indiego Glocksee
August 17 - Copenhagen, DK - Loppen
August 18 - Bodo, NO - Parkenfestivalen
August 19 - Trondheim, NE - Pstereo
August 26 - London, UK - Electric Ballroom
