LISTEN: Protomartyr Release New Song “Born To Be Wine”

In the 11th installment of this year’s Adult Swim Singles Series, Michigan alumni and post-punk Protomartyr provides the eerie, crawling “Born To Be Wine.” Lead singer Joe Casey presents his usual talk-sing mixture while a loud lead guitar explores the darkest, creepiest sounds its fretboard can muster while drowning in reverb. Casey said of the song:

“’Born To Be Wine’ was written and recorded in two days in March of this year. It was recorded by Chris Koltay at his Hi Bias Studio in Detroit and features contributions from Zak Bratto and Jake Kmiecik-Percussion, John Olson and Wade Kergan-Sax, and Trevor Naud-Dulcimer. The title comes from mishearing a Frenchman talking about his favorite rock and roll songs, while the lyrical sentiment takes in louche, elder rockers confined to man caves and a list of fearsome things that were ruminated on during a particularly dire phone interview.”

Presumably, the rock and roll song alluded to in the interview is Steppenwolf’s 1968 classic “Born to be Wild,” and “Born To Be Wine” seems to somewhat channel the loud hard rock energy of the track.

Protomartyr is in the middle of a tour right now, check out the single and the upcoming tour dates below.

Protomartyr Tour Dates
Buy Tickets on Ticketmaster | Buy Tickets on Ticketfly
08/03: Bozeman, MT – Filling Station
08/04: Spokane, WA – the Bartlett
08/05: Seattle, WA – Neumos
08/06: Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon
08/07: Happy Valley, OR – Pickathon
08/09: Boise, ID – Neurolux
08/11: Denver, CO – Larimer Lounge
08/12: Omaha, NE – Slowdown
08/13: St. Louis, MO – Off Broadway
08/14: Milwaukee, WI – Mad Planet
09/23: Detroit, MI – El Club #
10/22: London, UK – Barbican *
10/23: Hull, UK – The New Adelphi Club ^
10/24: York, UK – The Crescent ^
10/25: Brighton, UK – Concorde 2 +
10/26: Bristol, UK – Fiddlers +
10/27: Nottingham, UK – Rescue Rooms +
11/02: Chicago, IL – Empty Bottle $
11/03: Columbia, MO – Cafe Berlin $
11/06: Austin, TX – Sound on Sound
11/08: Las Vegas, NV – Bunkhouse Saloon $
11/09: San Diego, CA – Soda Bar $
11/10: Los Angeles, CA – The Roxy $
11/11: San Francisco, CA – Slim’s $
11/12: Reno, NV – Holland Project $
11/15: Des Moines, IA – Vaudeville Mews
11/16: Madison, WI – High Noon Saloon

#w/Oh Boland
* w/the Pop Group
^ w/Eagulls
+ w/Eagulls and TRAAMS
$ w/the Gotobeds

Christopher Lee: I am a college student from California. I am a massive fan of most things rock, and especially of all things Car Seat Headrest. Journalism has been a great passion of mine, and I hope that I'll be able to continue to merge my worlds of music and journalism as the years go on.
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