Photo by Zak Bratto

In addition to being one of our favorite discoveries in Austin last year, Protomartyr also released one of the year’s best (if not widely known) albums. In a year where the standout rock releases ranged from terrifying (Swans and Pharmakon) to back-to-basics throwbacks (Ex Hex) Under Color of Official Right fits in beautifully with a highly concentrated dose of grit. Singer Joe Casey has an impressive baritone that recalls the new wave vocal styles of the 1980s but he spits far more vitriol than those singers ever did. Also he’s backed by precise and forceful drumming and the sort of dissonant post-punk guitar riffs that stay ingrained in your memory. That is why “Scum, Rise!” is one of the best songs to have surfaced last year.

We spoke with Casey about working with Kelley Deal, staying in Detroit and joining a band for the first time in his thirties.

How did the collaboration with Kelley Deal [of The Breeders] come about?

That was another lucky happenstance.We played something at SXSW that she saw. The bands she was in were a big deal to us. When you meet your musical idols, you always expect it to go poorly or them to not live up to expectations but her and Mike in the band R. Ring just were awesome people to hang out with. It just kind of came up—”hey, let’s do a split.” She’s the salt of the earth. Mike has a studio, Candyland, down in Cincinnati. From touring so much we figure Cincinnati’s not really that far from Detroit, so we just went down there and did it. His studio’s in the back of a puppy daycare place. That was kind of fun. That’s why there’s dogs on the cover.

That makes sense!

We try not to make too much sense of the art but this time we were like, “Hey! We recorded in the back of a puppy camp. Let’s put some dogs on the cover.”

You mentioned that you expect meeting your idols to go poorly. Has that ever happened to you?

No. I’m generally of the type not to place too much emphasis on somebody so that way you’re not disappointed. I haven’t really met too many people. One person I have met is Weird Al Yankovic. He’s very nice. I wouldn’t say he’s necessarily a musical idol but he’s very friendly. I haven’t met too many celebrities.

I also enjoyed that the lyrics—“Hell is headlining a blues festival.” Is there any specific festival that you’re giving a jab to?

It’s kind of a two pronged thing. It’s kind of just bitching about being in a band and in Detroit, especially out in the suburbs/ There’s always these really crappy festivals where they block off a street and all the local bands play. It’s really kind of corporate stuff now. And I was also thinking—I was trying to think of a classy way to say “pity party.” That’s like blues festivals. There’s a lot of bad festivals out there. There are some good ones. Detroit hasn’t figured out how to do big festivals yet so we get the dumb mid-level ones.

What is the music scene like in Detroit?

Well, the part that we’re in is pretty cool. The thing in Detroit is that every house has a basement or a garage so there’s lots of places to practice. There are a lot of bars to play in. So that helps. The bands, if they put the effort in, can practice a lot and play a lot. It’s always changing. It seems like there’s some young groups coming up now and people that were my age and a little bit younger are kind of moving out of the scene. So young people are kind of moving in. I don’t know where it’s going to go, but there are some good ones.

Have you ever thought about leaving Detroit?

In Detroit, at least when I was younger, you’d graduate from college and then you’d either move to the East Coast or the West Coast or Chicago in the center, but people wouldn’t stay in Detroit at all. I was living with my folks and I was always thinking I was going to leave but then I kind of stayed too long. So now I’m kind of stuck there.

One thing that’s interesting about you specifically is that you weren’t in bands until you joined Protomartyr a few years ago.

Yeah. I was in a band in high school for like, one day, but this is the first actual band. What gave me kind of the bug or the intention to do it was just hanging out with my friends in Tyvek, which is a Detroit band. They were nice enough to let me go on tour with them just as a hanger-on, mostly. And just seeing how fun it was and how easy it is and how you meet interesting people was great. So finally, I decided to get off my butt and give it a shot.

What had stopped you previously?

There’s always the thing of the self-doubt. I’m usually a big proponent of self-doubt. It’s kept me alive. And I’m embarrassed about things. Being in a band is almost the ultimate self-love thing you can do. It’s opposite of my nature. It never really seemed like, “Boy, I wish I could do it!” Everything just kind of fell into place when I met the guys in the band. We were friends first before we were in a band. We were friends hanging out.

How does the writing work for Protomartyr?

Well, the band comes up with the music. We practice all in the same room and Greg, the guitar player, and I kind of tag as the musical director. As they’re kind of sculpting stuff, I kind of lay crap on top of it. It’s through jamming. I’ve never written lyrics ahead of time. The lyrics come second.

So you weren’t sitting on any of these lyrics?

No. The other reason to be in a band is that I went to college for English and I thought I’d be a writer and write every day. I know people that do that. I never did it so I thought, “Oh man, I’m a failure,” but when you’re in a band, you have to come up with lyrics and that’s writing. It was a way to cover some bases that I had not covered.

I know this is Protomartyr’s first time playing in D.C. but have you been here before on your own?

My oldest brother went to school at Georgetown. So, I’ve been when I was much younger and unfortunately with touring, unless you have a day off, you don’t really get to see much of the city. You try to see as much as you can but usually you’re out the door before you even know where you are.

Are you writing anything new right now?

Well, we’ve already recorded the next album. We recorded it in February in the same spot where we recorded the second album. This tour that we’re doing&mdashwe’re playing a lot of the new songs. We’re the kind of band that likes to keep moving. We’re hoping it comes out in the fall. It’s a matter of getting it mixed now. Since we’re on tour, we can’t really facilitate the the mixing process. Now it’s a back log of things. Getting a record out isn’t something that can happen overnight. It’s kind of a slow, lugubrious process, so, who knows? But we’d like to get it out by early fall.

Protomartyr play with Priests and The Gotobeds tonight at U St Music Hall.