Hello, everyone. Yes, I’m working on those other posts I’ve been working on for a while now. My goal is to have them all out by the end of June, but if not, well, better late than never.

But for now I want to talk about this new Protomartyr album, Formal Growth in the Desert.

This is the first Protomartyr album I’ve listened to, and as of right now it’s the only one. So what made me want to check out this album specifically?

Well, I saw it labelled as post-punk, and I’ve been getting into post-punk in the last few years.

Okay, maybe I’ve been a post-punk fan for a lot longer, but when I was a young kid, I didn’t really listen to music all that closely. So, I didn’t really think much about sub-genres of rock music that I listened to, and realistically an album like U2’s The Joshua Tree—which I used to listen to all the time—could be categorized as post-punk, and so could The Killers’ debut album Hot Fuss, another album that was a big part of my childhood.

But maybe those aren’t post-punk albums, I’m not sure. I don’t know how to define what is and isn’t post-punk, and that can be said about pretty much any genre.

But more recently I’ve gotten into albums like Archive Material by Silverbacks (which is one of my favourite albums of 2022) and the absolutely mind-blowing debut album by Squid, Bright Green Field—also, off-topic here, but Squid are putting out a new album this week and I’m really excited about it—and I’ve also been listening to other kinds of punk music.

One band whose music I’ve become a fan of in the past few years is IDLES, who may be closer to hardcore punk than post-punk (but again, I’m not good at giving music genre labels), but it’s easy to compare this album to IDLES, considering the vocal delivery and the tackling of serious issues with a sense of humour.

But even as someone who loves IDLES, that comparison isn’t always going to be a positive one. Because IDLES are such a unique band who seem impossible to even come anywhere close to replicating.

But honestly … as a fan of IDLES, I’ve got to say this new Protomartyr album really surprised me in a positive way, and in this case, to me that comparison is absolutely a good thing!

But with all that being said, the album this reminds me of the most is Endure by Special Interest, which was in my top ten favourite albums of last year! I mean, it’s a very different album in a lot of ways, but it’s got a similar eerie, haunting feeling while still having quite a bit of groove, and much like Endure it’s a strangely fun album to listen to despite the heavy subject matters.

And honestly … I think this album might be even better.

This is easily going to be among my absolute favourite albums of 2023 at the end of the year, with the punchy snares that add lots of power to these tracks, and the excellent blazing guitars, the incredible variety of moods created by the instrumentals and vocals that all connect together into an incredible album experience, and the excellent lyrics!

A lot of this album’s lyrics are political, and I’m not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to politics. And yes, I’m learning more about politics, as I think it’s especially important for me to understand now that I’m an adult … but I’m just saying, take my analyzation of the lyrics with a grain of salt, not only because of the political lyrics, but also because I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics anyway.

But I’m going to start by talking about the lyrics, some of which—like I said earlier—use humour while tackling serious issues. One excellent example of this is the song, “Fun in Hi Skool”, which seems to be about ageism, as a character in the song is saying things like, ‘Hey you old fuck, take a chair, see if you’re gonna win the tontine.’ And the eerie instrumentation is really fitting, especially considering the scary thought that if you’re bullying someone for their old age, you’re essentially bullying your future self. But despite all this, the song is written with a sense of humour, including the line, ‘Gotta keep the mummy entertained.’

Another example of this is “3800 Tigers”, which begins with the line, ‘There’s 3800 tigers in this world, but there’s far too many of you, of you fools.’ I love the double-meaning about the risk of tiger extinction and also the Detroit Tigers, who Joe Casey is a fan of, and speaking of humour, I love how the song ends with, ‘Now beat the Sox.’

I think the sound and lyrics go together really well on this album. “Fulfillment Center”, one of my favourite songs on this album, has a kind of upbeat but also kind of haunting sound to it that I think goes really well with the lyrics which seem to be describing a dream in which two people believe they’re in someone else’s dream—or maybe only one of them is dreaming … I mean, could these two people be having the same dream? But either way, there’s the knowledge that they can escape, but the haunting-yet-upbeat sound fits really well here—because again, the characters seem trapped, but there’s a way out, as it’s just a dream … but which one of them is dreaming? Maybe that made no sense (honestly I’m not even entirely sure what I meant by all that lol), and I get that the lyrics are probably metaphorical, but I can say for sure that I find this song very fascinating.

Lead singer, Joe Casey, has revealed that “Graft Vs. Host” and “The Author” are both about the passing of his mother, and the former is an excellent song that shows a complicated situation, where he’s devastated about it, but he thinks his mother would want him to try and move on and just be happy. The latter is also a great song, and I love the line, ‘Time’s your enemy. Every gift you see will be taken for sure.’

This album opens with the song, “Make Way”, which seems to possibly describe someone who’s only worried about themselves and doesn’t pay attention to anyone else’s struggles. But it also could just be about not letting bad things that happen ruin the day. And maybe there’s a bit of both meanings … I think double-meanings are a big part of this album, and it makes this already excellent album so much more fascinating and complicated, but also so much better!

But there’s more to an album than just the lyrics, and especially as someone who listens to music more for the way it sounds … how does this album sound?

I think it sounds fantastic! I love the punchy snares, the blazing guitars, and the album is musically compelling pretty much the entire way through, and it’s a very replayable album, too.

But right now, I want to talk about the mixing, which is some of the best I’ve heard on any album this entire year, as the guitars are powerful and subtle at the same time, if that makes any sense. The drums are pretty much at the perfect volume throughout the entire album, and the bass isn’t too overpowering but it’s loud enough to add a ton of punch to these tracks!

But honestly, the mixing and production here are so amazing that you have to hear it to believe it!

The vocal melodies are very catchy, too, and the instruments and vocals are timed really well. “Elimination Dances” features some excellent groovy bass which goes really well with the guitars, and the timing of everything sounds kind of ‘off’ but in a good way—and it’s the kind of subtle detail that makes this song really stand out even more to me!

And there’s a lot of great, catchy instrumental moments on here, too, like the aforementioned bass and guitar on “Elimination Dances”, and the excellent guitar groove in “3800 Tigers”

And sorry if I’m repeating myself too much here, but like I’ve said, the way these songs sound fits really well with the lyrics. “Let’s Tip the Creator” seems to be about the rich getting richer, and how most of us are a part of causing that to happen. But it also seems to be acknowledging that it’s okay to support people who are rich—but hopefully the rich help out the poor. And maybe I’m totally misinterpreting this song’s lyrics—actually, I probably am. But even if this wasn’t the intended meaning of the song, it can still be what the song means to me. Either way, this song is great!

And I haven’t even mentioned the super catchy “Polacrilex Kid”, which also features some really interesting lyrics, including the line, ‘Can you hate yourself and still deserve love?’

So, yeah, like I’ve said, this album is absolutely incredible! It’s compelling from start to finish, there’s not a single skippable track here, the mixing and production is some of the best I’ve heard all year—maybe in the last few years—and there are so many subtle details in the lyrics and the sound of the album that make it so much better!

But before I give this album a rating, I want to talk about the last track, “Rain Garden”, which is such an excellent closing track! The eerie, haunting sound adds some incredible atmosphere with those excellent guitars and synths, and the drums are very hard-hitting! And lyrically, it’s a great way to end the album, as complicated as the lyrics are. But despite the eeriness, and despite me not fully understanding the lyrics to this track, it seems like a mostly optimistic way to end the album, as this song includes the line, ‘I am deserving of love’, which may be a callback to the aforementioned “Polacrilex Kid”. And yeah, what an excellent album closer!

I mean, I could nitpick about how “We Know the Rats” could have used a booming snare to make it hit even harder—even though that song is absolutely fantastic already—or how the vocal melodies are kind of boring at points in “For Tomorrow”, or maybe the occasional tiny little detail that is slightly underwhelming, but overall this album is next level amazing!

If you’re into post-punk at all, I highly, highly, highly recommend you hear this album! It’s dreamy, atmospheric, intense, heartbreaking, and so much more, and it all comes together to create one of the best albums I’ve heard all year!

For me, this album is getting a 9.5/10! Obviously you don’t have to listen to it, but I think you’re really missing out if you don’t! I can’t say enough how much I love this album, and you very well could end up loving it as well!

But if you have heard the album, what do you think about it?

As always, thanks for reading my review, and I’ll be back with more reviews soon.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Make Way”, “Elimination Dances”, “Let’s Tip the Creator”, “Graft Vs. Host”, “3800 Tigers”, “Polacrilex Kid”, “Fulfillment Center”, “We Know the Rats”, “The Author”, “Rain Garden”
Least Favourite Tracks: “For Tomorrow”