Joe Casey has a reputation for being a little surly and fatalistic. This tends to be the focus of articles about his band, Protomartyr—there’s even a Tumblr dedicated to “Descriptions of Joe Casey.” (One entry: “He’s like an inverse Bono.”) To be fair, Protomartyr hails from the gritty rock ’n’ roll capital of Detroit, and Casey’s lyrics can be as direct and raw as a fresh knife wound.
Maybe I’ve caught him on a good day, but when we speak, Casey’s in good spirits and seems genuinely satisfied with the band’s success. Unsurprisingly, his approach to touring is still very workmanlike: “When you’re on the road, you’re essentially a traveling salesman,” he explains matter-of-factly.
Protomartyr just released its fourth LP, Relatives in Descent, which builds heavily on the tangled bark-and-bite of the band’s previous work. The production is bigger but not overblown, and the songs snake together as one unified piece of music. Casey points to guitarist Greg Ahee’s current obsession with soundtracks, particularly the score of the 2013 sci-fi film Under the Skin. That influence is evident on the tense and eerie “Windsor Hum” and the slow-burning “A Private Understanding.”