Iggy Pop Heralds Protomartyr's 'Hotel Usona' Album
Get the Culture newsletter
Daily culture — film, music, books, the trends and ideas worth your attention. Free.
- Protomartyr announced their new album "Hotel Usona" for September 25 release on Domino, led by single "Sounds We Cannot Hear" and a hibachi-themed video
- Iggy Pop introduced the record in a written note calling the band "kind of like Jesus" and calling the album "Wagnerian," specifically comparing it to Richard Wagner's opera Tristan and Isolde
- Dave Fridmann produced the nine-track album alongside the four-member Protomartyr lineup of singer Joe Casey, drummer Alex Leonard, bassist Scott Davidson, and multi-instrumentalist Greg Ahee
- Pop characterized the band as a "slow growth item" earning "followers, listeners, and respect little by little, over the long haul," highlighting the lyric "We got a bad review" as a standout moment
- The band will support "Hotel Usona" with a fall tour covering North America and Europe
Why it matters: A written endorsement from a fellow Detroit rock icon is one of the most valuable co-signs an indie rock band can receive, and Pop framing Protomartyr as a long-haul "slow growth" act reframes the album as a deliberate artistic statement rather than a bid for breakout attention.
