If anyone thought that the presence of Kelley Deal (The Breeders) on a few cuts was gonna somehow soften the attack of Protomartyr, they were so wrong. The band's sound, even on this new EP featuring the R. Ring leader, is still a punch in the solar-plexus, an unforgiving shove into a jagged realm. The EP, Consolation, dropped on Domino, on Friday, and it's a reliably-stark offering from this crew.
"Wait" rolls on like an unearthed gem from Gang of Four that's been ginned up with a more precise rhythmic focus, while the nicely-titled "Same Face in a Different Mirror" is elegantly understated, all coiled tension stretched into new melodic shapes for this lot. When Kelley Deal joins the group for the remaining 2 cuts on this Consolation EP, things take a nice turn, if not a radical one. The lengthy, and ragged "Wheel of Fortune" charts landscapes once occupied by the Bad Seeds, or Crime and the City Solution, while the more concise "You Win Again" offers similarly woozy charms, more sounds of a few folks at their desolate end.
Consolation is out now via Domino.
More details on Protomartyr via the band's official Facebook page.
[Photo: Daniel Topete]