Relatives in Descent

You know it's a great album when you get disappointed that it's over. Excellent balance between harsh a melodic ideas, deadpan vocals reminiscent of Nick Cave, and the flow of tracks from one to another was seamless. This was a great add that I probably never would have listened to otherwise, thanks!

Good drum work but very sad sounding singer

I must be careful not to cross over into glibness, but there's a review which captured Relatives perfectly but in which I come to exactly the opposite conclusion. Yes, it's a sad record, and yes, it has some nice drum recordings. In fact, the compositions feel led by the drums into a crashing city. The rubble thundering is from buildings tall enough to collapse eternally. Joe's writing is apocalyptic, funny, perfect for a lazy listener like me. Just this time around I found myself ready for the Flann O'Brien reference. This record is always a cathartic listen; It's also brutal. Couldn't have been a fun adventure recording, exactly, but I imagine I'll always be grateful to Protomartyr for doing it.

An excellent record. The band has always been under the radar in Europe I think, but they are nectar for connoisseurs. This is probably their best work

Always excited to hear a band from Detroit that I wasn't already familiar with. I liked this a lot, and I have a feeling it will be rewarded by repeated listening, so that's what I plan to do. Thanks to whoever added this! 4 stars.

This album reminded me of Joy Division/New Order with a good dose of Sonic Youth style noise rock thrown in. The vocal delivery reminded me of Nick Cave at times as well. Overall, this was a good listen and it is a solid post-punk album. However, by the way the album sounded, I expected it to be older than it was. It seems to retread a lot of what came before.

Funny enough, I was wearing my Protomartyr shirt when this was revealed. I'm a fan. This wouldn't have been my pick out of their albums ("The Agent Intellect" would have been) but it's still a solid album. The rhythm section acts as the propulsive engine while the guitars craft appropriate atmosphere for Joe Casey's depressed, drunken scholar ramblings. It's oppressive, dour, and I love it. Favorite tracks: "A Private Understanding", "My Children", "Windsor Hum", "Corpses In Regalia"

Post-punk lives on.

4 Awesome!

Intresting style. Quite enjoyed this album

Great band! Dark and strange, eerie and unnerving. Catchy hooks and never cliche. And that bass, that bass!

Big ups to whoever put some Protomartyr on the list. While this is definitely the band's most consistent LP, their entire discography is amazing – led by Joe Casey's trademark vocals and a distinctive post-punk sound, this outfit has created an unmistakable sonic signature that stands out among a crowded field. I'd listened to most of these tracks in isolation, but they really come together as a full LP. There's an innate sense of isolation and ruin, of things lost and left behind. It's amazing how evocative the songwriting is with just a little reverb guitar, simple pounding melodies, and of course Casey preaching/droning on top. Excellent album and a perfect addition to the more modern 1001 canon.

This is another one I had to listen to several times to get into. There were a couple of great standout songs right away, but some of the other songs took me longer to appreciate. Standouts: Male Plague, Here is the Thing, Up the Tower, Half Sister Others: A Private Understanding, My Children Rating: 3.75

Rating: 8/10 Best songs: A private understanding, Windsor hum, Up the tower, Male plague, Half sister

Enjoyed that

This guy wins first prize in the Nick Cave soundalike contest I just held in my head. I liked it.

Sure is post punk. 6/10

I don't know how necessary I'd consider the album, but enjoyable enough and the smooth transitions were a significant plus.

Definitely not bad. I enjoy the song structures, but I kind of want it to be a bit more "raw" a la The Fall. Like the vocals are a bit too pretty? Even though they aren't. I dunno.

Protomartyr is a very cool name for music that is fine

Noisy post-punk rock with aggressively muttery vocals, I didn't hate it but found it hard to really focus in.

Saw post punk and thought I'd last one track. Pleasantly surprised

This was really interesting to listen to. A more than meets the eye kinda punkband, which sometimes reminded me of Joy Division. Cool vibe!

Pleasantly surprised. May check out some more.

Competent and sad

Musically, this captures many of the proper notes of old school post-punk, but the vocals don't really do it for me. I don't know if it bring anything new to the table, but it was pretty good. Fave Songs: A Private Understanding, Here Is the Thing, The Chuckler, Don't Go to Anacita, Half Sister

This felt like something straight out of the early 80s. Pure post punk that I didn’t love but it wasn’t terrible I guess. It all blurred together but that was kinda by design on this one with each song running into the next.

Never heard of this band before but I thought they were alright. Extra points being from Detroit, but their biggest drawback was definitely the singer. Everything was pretty solid for a modern alternative band but the singer just didn’t have that factor that want had me wanting more. Overall it’s still good. 6.5/10

Hmmmm… didn’t love it but I didn’t hate it.

Just played as I sat there.

I thought I was really going to like this at first but the longer it went on the less I enjoyed.

I like a good post-punk album, but this was a bit too raw and abrasive for me.

3/10. Sounded like Nick Cave, but a little less harsh. Almost fell asleep in my chair 2-3 times trying to listen to this. Definitely not my thing

More post punk. No thanks, I listened to three years of this mediocre forgettable stuff.

Not much of my taste

Meh, post-punk crud. Does this stuff pride itself on all sounding identical? 2/5.

It wasn't awful but I definitely did not need to hear it. It wasn't too long. Nothing really noteworthy about it. I have no desire to revisit. I will generously round up.

I persevered through the first two unattractive and unappealing songs to My Children which lifted my ears and reminded me a lot of Joy Division. However, I it's all a bit mumbly and quite similar.

I wasn’t really impressed by

2017 post punk with gloomy vocals. Rating: 1.5 Playlist track: Caitriona Date listened: 04/10/24

Kind of a beat poet/rap delivery over generally interesting/mini-wall of noise alt rock instrumentation. The lyrical delivery is uninteresting, and there’s nothing particularly engaging or catchy with the music either. It is different but not particularly great. Kind of aimless. There’s nothing that is a major turnoff, it just gets old after 20 minutes.

Fourth studio album anyone? Seems like someone else was paying attention! It's a pretty decent album, but some of the instruments are off for me. Just different. Some in a not so good kind of way. Very heavy. Ultimately difficult to listen to again.

Post-punk, art punk, noise rock. Rollo. Un 2.

This whole album sounds like something made by a 2007 edgelord who just discovered garageband on his macbook.