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Apr 26, 2023 By Mark Redfern Photography by Trevor Naud

Detroit-formed post-punkers Protomartyr are releasing a new album, Formal Growth in the Desert, on June 2 via Domino. Now they have shared its second single, “Elimination Dances,” via a music video. Yoonha Park directed the video. Watch it below, followed by the band’s upcoming tour dates, including some newly announced European shows.

Protomartyr is vocalist Joe Casey, guitarist Greg Ahee, drummer Alex Leonard, and bassist Scott Davidson.

A press release says that “Elimination Dances” was “named after a chapter from a 1950’s teen dance manual” and its title “refers to a game where ‘you get tapped out when you lose the dance,’ and that felt an apt metaphor for just surviving.”

Life is a struggle, but Casey says, “You might as well keep dancing until the tap comes.”

Park had this to say about directing the video: “My dad once told me ‘Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end the faster it goes,’ That idea along with the lyrics led to the idea of a choreographic pattern that repeats as it grows outward in an expanding spiral. The choreography repeats with each cycle but has to be danced faster and faster to keep pace with the ‘pale youth’ until eventually devolving into chaos. I recently learned that the toilet paper quote was actually by Andy Rooney.”

Previously Protomartyr shared the album’s first single, “Make Way,” via a music video.

Formal Growth in the Desert is the follow-up to 2020’s Ultimate Success Today. The album was recorded at Sonic Ranch in Tornillo, Texas. “The desert is more of a metaphor or symbol,” Casey says in a press release, “of emotional deserts, or a place or time that seems to lack life.”

Read our review of Ultimate Success Today here.

Read our 2017 interview with Protomartyr.

Protomartyr Tour Dates:

Tue. June 13 - Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern
Wed. June 14 - Montreal, QC @ Fairmount
Thu. June 15 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Fri. June 16 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
Sat. June 17 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Sun. June 18 - Philadelphia, PA @ Johnny Brenda’s
Tue. June 20 - Washington, DC @ Black Cat
Wed. June 21 - Carrboro, NC @ Cat’s Cradle
Thu. June 22 - Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West
Fri. June 23 - Nashville, TN @ Blue Room
Sat. June 24 - St. Louis, MO @ Off Broadway
Mon. June 26 - Oklahoma City, OK @ 89th Street
Tue. June 28 - Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole
Wed. June 29 - Santa Ana, CA @ Constellation Room
Sat. July 1 - San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
Sun. July 2 - Santa Cruz, CA @ Moe’s Alley
Wed. July 5 - Portland, OR @ Wonder Ballroom
Thu. July 6 - Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
Fri. July 7 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
Sat. July 8 - Spokane, WA @ Lucky You
Tue. July 11 - St. Paul, MN @ Turf Club
Wed. July 12 - Madison, WI @ High Noon
Thu. July 13 - Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
Fri. Aug. 4 - Genk, BE @ Absolutely Free Festival
Sat. Aug. 5 - Haldern, DE @ Haldern Pop Festival
Sun. Aug. 6 - Frankfurt, DE @ Zoom
Mon. Aug. 7 - Amsterdam, NL @ Paradiso
Wed. Aug. 9 - Brighton, UK @ Concorde 2
Thu. Aug. 10 - Nottingham, UK @ Rescue Rooms
Fri. Aug. 11 - Cardiff, UK @ Clwb lfor Bach
Sat. Aug. 12 - Leeds, UK @ Brudenell Social Club
Mon. Aug. 14 - Eindhoven, NL @ Effenaar
Tue. Aug. 15 - Hannover, DE @ Indiego Glocksee
Thu. Aug. 17 - Copenhagen, DK @ Loppen
Fri. Aug. 18 - Bodo, NO @ Parkenfestivalen
Sat. Aug. 19 - Trondheim, NE @ Pstereo
Thu. Oct. 19 - Galway, IE @ Roisin Dubh
Fri. Oct. 20 - Limerick, IE @ Dolan’s Warehouse
Sat. Oct. 21 - Dublin, IE @ The Button Factory
Mon. Oct. 23 - Manchester, UK @ YES (The Pink Room)
Tue. Oct. 24 - Bristol, UK @ The Trinity Centre
Wed. Oct. 25 - Birmingham, UK @ Hare & Hounds
Thu. Oct. 26 - London, UK @ Electric Ballroom
Sat. Oct. 28 - Rouen, FR @ Le 106
Sun. Oct. 29 - Antwerp, BE @ Trix Club
Mon. Oct. 30 - Groningen, DE @ Vera
Tue. Oct. 31 - Hamburg, DE @ Banhof Pauli
Wed. Nov. 1 - Leipzig, DE @ UT Connewitz
Thu. Nov. 2 - Berlin, DE @ Hole44
Sat. Nov. 4 - Athens, GR @ Gagarin 205
Mon. Nov. 6 - Munich, DE @ Strom
Tue. Nov. 7 - Zurich, CH @ Bogen F
Thu. Nov. 9 - Paris, FR @ La Station
Fri. Nov. 10 - Lyon, FR @ Marché Gare
Sat. Nov. 11 - Annecy, FR @ Le Brise Glace
Mon. Nov. 13 - Bologna, IT @ Locomotiv Club
Tue. Nov. 14 - Torino, IT @ Spazio 211
Wed. Nov. 15 - Marseille, FR @ Le Makeda
Thu. Nov. 16 - Montpellier, FR @ Le Rockstore

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