Protomartyr/ Consolation EP
Hailing from Detroit, Michigan, Protomartyr is a post-punk quartet made up of lead vocalist Joe Casey, guitarist Greg Ahee, drummer Alex Leonard, and bassist Scott Davidson. Formed in 2008, they've produced a solid four-studio-album discography to date, ranging from their impressive debut No Passion All Technique to last year's critically acclaimed, highly politicised Relatives in Descent, which, in a way, gives birth to their latest offering, Consolation EP.
Recorded around the same period as those on Relatives, the EP's four tracks keep the similarly heated conversations going with help from collaborator Kelley Deal, lead guitarist of enduring alt-rock legends The Breeders. With guns blazing, Wait opens with a barrage of thundering drums and guitars. "See a pair of fellas/ Rolling down a hill/ Punching the life out of each other/ Glamour waves the air," Casey muses in his cynical, nonchalant timber. "Ironic T-shirts wet with blood/ An argument over aesthetics/ That would be my guess … Wait!"
Sharing more or less the same two-minute-ish length as its predecessor, Same Face in a Different Mirror further demonstrates just how masterful Protomartyr are when it comes to constructing a brief, yet impactful song. "Ugly is intact/ But now the frame is clearer/ Guilt cries like an unfed pet … Society's plotting with the vermin/ Another empty room/ Another stained shirt/ Day's kicking brains in the dirt," he offers. Despite the bleakness of it all, there's a ray of positivity to revel in ("but there's something coming up/ The feeling there is love/ The feeling I'm in love/ We are love").
The optimism doesn't last long, however, because Wheel of Fortune follows with five minutes of full disdain and derision. "The flea/ The fetid pool/ The sink hole/ The asshole/ Who thinks he thinks/ He thinks he knows all answers/ Wrath for sale and it is always Christmas/ I decide who lives and who dies," Casey and Kelley Deal intone in angry unison. Closing track You Always Win (also featuring Deal) is a contemplation on ageing and mortality ("Clean mind or clean body, choose one or the other/ Having both seems overindulgent … I go grey, you win again/ I grow weak, you win again"). Musically, this is the most adventurous the band has ever been, having incorporated non-traditional post-punk instruments like cello, viola, and clarinet.
Given its origin, Consolation EP may seem like a collection of throwaways culled from the cutting floor of Protomartyr's last LP. Truth is, each of these four tracks stand on their own as being just as individualistic as any of the band's best materials. Apart from Kelley Deal, who's clearly a welcome addition here, a brilliant thing about this EP lies in its number of tracks -- a perfectly bite-sized dose where booming drums, looming basslines and thrashing guitars are allowed to breathe instead of competing with one another as is the case with all of their previous full-lengths.
THE PLAYLIST
Bodyslam/ Wicha Tua Bao
Lifted from their forthcoming eponymous seventh LP, Wicha Tua Bao[literally "the art of light body" which refers to Qinggong, aChinese martial arts technique for making the body extremely light in weight] finds the Thai stadium rockers treading familiar ground of melodic pop-rock and sentimental, yet hopeful lyrics. Frontman Toon, perhaps the most relatable everyday guy in the Thai music scene, sings about letting go as he's come to terms with the fact that his relationship couldn't go on. "I've still gotlove for you/I'll love you with the understanding/ That our bond will remain/ Even if it wasn't what we'd dreamed of," he croons.
Ciara/Level Up
R&B mainstay Ciara returns with Level Up,a high-octane dance jam based off of DJ Telly Tellz' Fuck It Up Challenge, a Jersey Club remix of Fun's smash hit, We Are Young. Asfor the track itself, it still retains the frantic energy of those two songs, but with the message of female empowerment as an added bonus. "Them old mistakes are gone, I won't do them no more… I'm chilling, I'm winning/ Like on another level," she quips,effectively brushing off her haters everywhere.
Muse/SomethingHuman
"My circuits have blown/ I know it's self-imposed," Matt Bellamy sings in the opening verse of Muse's latest cut Something Human, addressing the mental and physical exhaustion accumulated during their epic 18-month-long Drones World Tour. Stylistically, the track shies away from the band's usual prog-rock grandiosity and finds consolation in the simple, more mellow production. "Three thousand miles left on the road/ Two-hundred hours till I am home," Bellamy adds, counting down to the reunion with his loved ones.
Everything Is Recorded (Feat. Obongjayar & Yazz Ahmed) /Carry Me
A brainchild of XL Recordings label boss RichardRussell, Everything Is Recordedis a collaborative project recorded at his West London studio, The Copper House. Following a full-length album from earlier this year, he's gearing up for the release of 8AM, a six-track, vinyl-only EP that boasts contributions from Sampha, Infinite Coles, and Scritti Politti's Green Gartside. Lead single Carry Meis a gospel-inspired soul number made even better by emerging young artists Nigerian-born soul crooner Obongjayar and Bahrain-raised, London-based trumpeter Yazz Ahmed.
Cat Power/Wanderer
Chan Marshall, better known as Cat Power, finally emerges from a six-year absence and is set to gift us all a long-anticipated follow-up to 2012's modern classic, Sun. Titled Wanderer, her tenth studio album drops in a few weeks, but here we have its lead cut/title track to tie us over until then. Set to an ethereal folk arrangement, the just-over-one-minute-long song finds the singer-songwriter intoning alongside a choir backup. "Oh, wanderer I've been wondering/ If your brown eyes still have colour, could I see?" she begins. "When your goal is ages out for the end of your story/ Give my hand to Jesus when I ran away with you."
