Song You Need: Protomartyr ponder self-hate and romantic love

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With their sixth studio LP Formal Growth in the Desert arriving this Friday (June 2), Protomartyr have shared the project’s third and final pre-release single, “Polacrilex Kid.” The track’s title comes from the generic name for nicotine gum, and while the song begins with a direct reference to the product (“I’m back / No more smoke just gum in my jaws or smoke when I’m raw or alone need the tar”), it moves on to a more existential theme: the possibility of romantic love in the presence of self-hate.

“Can you hate yourself and still deserve love?” frontman and lyricist Joe Casey asks as the song stutters to a close. His voice warps ever so slightly out of tune with Greg Ahee’s frantically plucked electric guitar 16th notes, undergirded by steady bass and drum lines from Alex Leonard and Scott Davidson, respectively.

Casey explained the song’s central question on the 92nd episode of The FADER Interview, out today. It was inspired, he told me, by a relationship that budded during deep COVID lockdown and was formalized by marriage this month, shortly after we spoke.

“During these darkest times, he said, “it was a way out: ‘I feel like shit, I think I’m a piece of shit, but this person cares about me. And I need to clean myself up and at least attempt to try to find the good in life, because this person is willing to be there for me, and I need to be there for them.’”

“Polacrilex Kid” comes with a public access TV-style visual treatment courtesy of Loosemeat.biz, which serves double duty as a trailer for The Marty Singer Telethon, premiering on Highland Park TV on Thursday at 7 p.m. EDT. The program will feature in-studio performances of today’s track, plus unreleased Formal Growth standouts “Fun in Hi Skool” and “3800 Tigers.” Call in to 1-888-57-HLPTV Thursday night to join.

Check out Formal Growth in the Desert’s cover art and tracklist, and see Protomartyr’s 2023 touring schedule, below.

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

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

October 19 - Galway, IE - Roisin Dubh
October 20 - Limerick, IE - Dolan’s Warehouse
October 21 - Dublin, IE - The Button Factory
October 23 - Manchester, UK - YES (The Pink Room)
October 24 - Bristol, UK - The Trinity Centre
October 25 - Birmingham, UK - Hare & Hounds
October 26 - London, UK - Electric Ballroom
October 28 - Rouen, FR - Le 106
October 29 - Antwerp, BE - Trix Club
October 30 - Groningen, DE - Vera
October 31 - Hamburg, DE - Banhof Pauli
November 1 - Leipzig, DE - UT Connewitz
November 2 - Berlin, DE - Hole44
November 4 - Athens, GR - Gagarin 205
November 6 - Munich, DE - Strom
November 7 - Zurich, CH - Bogen F
November 9 - Paris, FR - La Station
November 10 - Lyon, FR - Marché Gare
November 11 - Annecy, FR - Le Brise Glace
November 13 - Bologna, IT - Locomotiv Club
November 14 - Torino, IT - Spazio 211
November 15 - Marseille, FR - Le Makeda
November 16 - Montpellier, FR - Le Rockstore