Artist Profile
Protomartyr is an American rock band formed 2008 in Detroit, Michigan, by Joe Casey (vocals), Greg Ahee (guitar), Alex Leonard (drums) and Scott Davidson (bass). Greg Ahee and Alex Leonard started as a duo named Butt Babies, and were soon joined by Joe Casey. When Scott Davidson joined the band on bass, Butt Babies renamed to Protomartyr. The band released their promising debut album, No Passion All Technique in 2012 via Urinal Cake Records, followed by their second studio album, Under Color of Official Right, released in April 2014 on Hardly Art Records. By their third studio album, The Agent Intellect, released October 2015, the band began to attract significant critical acclaim. The album featured in best of 2015 lists in many publications including Rolling Stone and Spin. Signed to Domino Records in 2017, they released a fourth studio album, the excellent Relatives in Descent. The group's fifth album, Ultimate Success Today appeared in May 2020, then Formal Growth in the Desert in 2023, and their most recent album Hotel Usona in 2026. All their albums, to-date have been consistently excellent and are all recommended. The band's post-punk-industrial sound is reminiscent of Manchester bands like The Fall and Joy Division, as well as American art-punks Pere Ubu. Iggy Pop is a great fan of the band, calling them "the best band we’ve got in America right now". Kelley Deal of The Breeders, also an admirer of the band, has collaborated with them on numerous releases (most notably 2018's Consolation EP) and even played with them live on numerous dates as a special guest. Protomartyr's vocalist Joe Casey has been called the group's "wild card" due to his lyrics, described as "free-associative" and "blue collar beat poetry". His lyrics often consist of references to pre-Enlightenment sources such as Greek philosophy & mythology. As a matter of interest, drummer Alex Leonard is the grandson of crime-noir novelist Elmore Leonard.