Proto – At The Foot Of The Mountain

Contra Records

 

What do you get when members of Gewohnheitstrinker, The Lads and Brutal Bravo team up for an all new project? I would have guessed something loud and savage with a healthy dose of debauchery, yet the project (or band) in question – Proto – isn’t anything like that – at all(!) - but nonetheless a pleasant surprise!

 

Because both the members of the aforementioned bands, as well as Contra Records, really stepped out of their comfort zone to release something different than usual this time around and the result – in the form of the “At The Foot Of The Mountain” LP – is fairly brilliant if you ask me! Therefor I hope that Proto is – or will be – a serious band that will continue to release music in the future, because this record definitely tastes like more.

 

Influenced by the likes of Warsaw/Joy Division, early Killing Joke and later Blitz – you know, the usual post-punk suspects – Proto delivers a dark and melancholic sound that goes straight through marrow and bone. Surely fans of other new-ish bands such as Syndrome 81, Tachanka and Litovsk (I see a pattern here) will like this record as well, though I also see and hear resemblances with The Transitions as well.

 

Now I merely named bands that I love and if you do too, there’s a good change you will like Proto as well. So don’t hesitate to check these guys out and pick one of those 300 copies on clear vinyl up if you have the chance! Highly recommended if you like ‘something else’!