Protomartyr @ CCA, Glasgow, 17 Nov

On the other side of the wall, Friday night punters are enjoying artisanal snacks and the CCA's lovely decor. We're locked in with Detroit's finest post-punk band Protomartyr instead, facing the torrid facts of humanity's bleak existence – but it sounds phenomenal. 

Support band Oh Boland fuse simple punk rock with a Britpop sensibility for an anthemic hook, and charm their way through a couple of minor hiccups. The energy’s high and the feedback is just so that there’s never an empty second between songs – clearly this Galway outfit are pros at opening a show, and the room heats up in response. Their final track is a frenzied blow-out, so frantic that the drummer sits for a minute, wrapped in a towel and plaintively hugging his cymbal.

Shortly after, and with typically little ceremony, Protomartyr take the stage. Frontman Joe Casey’s got a beer in his hand, and three more stubbies distorting the pocket of his smart black jacket. He sings with his eyes closed, and his baritone delivery feels both authoritative and uncertain: opening track My Children, a single from the band’s recent album Relatives in Descent, talks of legacy – what do we leave behind us? What is it worth?

Their new material shines. Here Is The Thing belches capitalist greed, and A Private Understanding is a masterclass in pacing. Greg Ahee (guitar) and Scott Davidson (bass) have a true connection, the kind that only comes from years of practice, and the melodies ring lucid and clear above the encroaching gloom. Alex Leonard's drumming is tight but innovative, and picks out an essential heartbeat in Protomartyr's more instrospective turns. Now four albums deep, this is a band who have come in to their full power. 

During the 2015 single The Devil in His Youth – a deceptively joyful sounding song about toxic behaviours festering in young suburban white men – a pit opens up. When Protomartyr re-emerge for an encore, it’s the same guys who enthusiastically pester Casey for a fist-bump. He obliges, almost on autopilot, and then shakes himself: “Okay, shut up now. Shut the fuck up.” 

Earnest, heart-wrenching and completely lacking pretension, Protomartyr offer an inimitable challenge to a world that deserves it.