| No Passion All Technique | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 8, 2012 | |||
| Recorded | November 2011 | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 38:19 | |||
| Label | Urinal Cake Records (original) Domino (reissue) | |||
| Producer | Protomartyr | |||
| Protomartyr chronology | ||||
| ||||
No Passion All Technique is the debut album by American post-punk band Protomartyr. Released through Urinal Cake Records in 2012, the album went quickly out of print and subsequently became a "collector's item". [1] [2] In May 2019, the band reissued the album with bonus tracks. [1] [2]
According to the album's official Bandcamp page, the band "stepped into a studio together for the first time, in November of 2011 [...] With only four hours of studio time booked and one case of beer between them, their plan was to walk out with enough songs for a seven-inch single. Instead, at the suggestion of engineer Chris Koltay, the newly formed Detroit outfit recorded as much as they possibly could, in what little time they had. They left with 21 songs—enough material for two singles *and* a full-length album [...]." [3] According to Casey: "My memory is shot, but I appreciate now, looking back, how raw and off-the-cuff it was. There’s tons of mistakes in it and that wasn’t because we planned on it. We still can’t really admit that it’s as good as it is. You never want to say that your first is the best, but I’m happy that the first ended up not being terrible. It gave us doorway to what we’d want to do later.” [4]
The songs on this album are lyrically set in the city of Detroit. [3] [5] According to Ryan Reft, the lyrics feature a "mix of resiliency, stoicism, and resignation [...] Machinists fill themselves with bottle after bottle of “High Life” on the weekend, but hardly remain confined by such an existence: “There are things that are built in the skulls of men.” On “3 Swallows,” Casey finds a place between desperation and hope: “Uninvincible, close but not pitiful, I discovered to drink it slowly, the great unfolding, and wait for their arms to hold me.”" [5] Evan Minsker writes: "Scouring the lyrics sheet for No Passion All Technique, you'll find cold detachment and cynicism all over the place. [...] But this album is never bitter, and it's never a slog. A song like "Feral Cats" even borders on absurdity. [...] [W]ith a big triumphant hook and a shouted vocal, they sing, "Just like feral cats!" [...] It's a song delivered with either gravity or a smirk, and either way, it's a great song." [6] The song "Ypsilanti" was inspired by the book The Three Christs of Ypsilanti by Milton Rokeach. [7] "Too Many Jewels" even quotes directly from the aforementioned book. [8]
The album cover features a picture of J. Robert Oppenheimer.
225 copies of the album were pressed by Urinal Cakes Records on vinyl in 2012, with another 75 being pressed on clear vinyl. [9] The band also self-released the album on cassette. [10]
In March 2019, the band announced that they were going to reissue the album and release it with 4 bonus tracks (3 from the Dreads 85 84 7" and one hitherto unreleased track) on May 3 through Domino Recording Company. [4] A music video for the track "Jumbo's" (directed by long-time collaborator Yoonha Park) was released online on the 5th of March. [4] [1]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic |    [11] |
| Crack | favorable [12] |
| Pitchfork | 7.8/10 [6] |
Due to its limited circulation, the album received very little critical attention. Pitchfork's Evan Minsker writes that though the album "takes several Detroit reference points in its stride, it's more than "a Detroit record": Their characters aren't hollow archetypes, but people with ideas, struggles, and stories set to dextrously played speed punk, psych melodies, and gentle fingerpicking [...] For a debut LP, No Passion All Technique is an impressive showing of sonic, lyrical, and emotional range, and it all falls under a cohesive banner." [6] Crack magazine compared the music to "late-era Black Flag" and Pissed Jeans, praising "the smart storytelling skills and brilliantly sardonic humor of vocalist Joe Casey." [12] Jon Treneff of Dusted compared Casey to Mark E. Smith and Chris Thomson of Circus Lupus and compared the band as a whole to The Fall and Eddy Current Suppression Ring. "A band capable of serviceably [sic] capturing the spirit of any of the aforementioned would be worth noting," he writes, "but the truly impressive thing about No Passion All Technique is that it doesn't simply focus the laser on any one point; instead, it moves through all those speeds convincingly without coming off as a tourist, while staying well enough within the Venn diagram to hold it all together." [13]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AOTY | 77/100 [14] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Exclaim! | 7/10 [15] |
| The Line of Best Fit | 8/10 [16] |
| Loud and Quiet | 7/10 [17] |
| MusicOMH | [18] |
| Ox-Fanzine | [19] |
| Popmatters |   [20] |
The reissue received positive reviews upon its release in 2019. Ross Horton of MusicOMH called it "an essential reissue of an incredible debut record, [...] it’s also an artefact that we can view with some measure of context. This is the skeleton key to unlocking all of the rest of Protomartyr’s dense and unyielding back catalogue." [18] Lucy Boosey of The Line of Best Fit called it "a record of decadence to behold, pouring filth and work into an album that has yet been little heard [...]" [16] Others, like Abi Crawford of Loud and Quiet criticized the "one-track garage sound, [...] boring things like production value are on the more primitive and muddy side too [...]" [17] Brad Garcia of Exclaim! compared the album unfavorably to the band's later work, calling it "fairly harsh and often sloppy". [15]
Charts (2019)
| Chart | Peak position |
|---|---|
| US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [21] | 16 |
| US Top Rock Albums (Billboard) [22] | 16 |
| US Independent Albums (Billboard) [23] | 43 |
| No. | Title | Length |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | "In My Sphere" | 3:44 |
| 2. | "Machinist Man" | 2:44 |
| 3. | "Hot Wheel City" | 1:35 |
| 4. | "3 Swallows" | 2:21 |
| 5. | "Free Supper" | 3:12 |
| 6. | "Jumbo's" | 4:28 |
| 7. | "Ypsilanti" | 3:12 |
| 8. | "Too Many Jewels" | 3:51 |
| 9. | "(Don't You) Call Me Out My Name" | 1:06 |
| 10. | "How He Lived After He Died" | 2:54 |
| 11. | "Feral Cats" | 2:51 |
| 12. | "Wine of Ape" | 1:21 |
| 13. | "Principalities" | 3:40 |
The following bonus tracks appeared on the album's 2019 reissue:
Fischerspooner were an electroclash duo and performance troupe formed in 1998 in Chicago after meeting in school. The name is a combination of the founders' last names, Warren Fischer and Casey Spooner.
3:47 EST is the debut album by the Canadian progressive rock group Klaatu, released in August 1976. The album was renamed Klaatu when released in the United States by Capitol Records. The album is notable for its Beatlesque rock. The Juno-nominated album cover was painted by a friend of Klaatu's members, a Canadian graphic artist, Ted Jones.
Dinosaur is the debut studio album by the alternative rock band Dinosaur Jr. It was released in 1985 on Homestead Records. The album exhibits a folkier side of the band than on future releases, but some of the tracks on the album showed off a much heavier, more hardcore punk-based side to the band in songs such as "Does it Float", "Mountain Man" and "Bulbs of Passion."
The Three Christs of Ypsilanti (1964) is a book-length psychiatric case study by Milton Rokeach, concerning his experiment on a group of three males with paranoid schizophrenia at Ypsilanti State Hospital in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The book details the interactions of the three patients—Clyde Benson, Joseph Cassel, and Leon Gabor—each of whom believed himself to be Jesus Christ.
Beach House is the debut studio album by American dream pop duo Beach House. It was released on October 3, 2006, by Carpark Records and in Europe by Bella Union. The album received mostly positive reviews from music critics.
"The Reeling" is a song by American electronic band Passion Pit. It was released on May 11, 2009, as the first single from the band's debut studio album, Manners. The song features background vocals from the PS22 Chorus. Generally well received by music critics, the single entered the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in September 2009. In the United Kingdom, the single originally peaked at number 137, but was re-issued in January 2010, where it performed slightly better at number 99. With this improved showing, the record company then re-issued "Sleepyhead" in March 2010. The song was featured on soccer video game Pro Evolution Soccer 2011.
Edsel was an American indie rock/post-hardcore band from Washington, D.C., United States. The band originally broke up in 1997, having released four full-length albums, numerous 7-inch singles and an EP.
DIIV is an American rock band from Brooklyn, New York City, formed in 2011. The band consists of Zachary Cole Smith, Andrew Bailey (guitar), Colin Caulfield and Ben Newman (drums).
Protomartyr is an American rock band formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 2010. The band consists of Joe Casey (vocals), Greg Ahee (guitar), Alex Leonard (drums), and Scott Davidson (bass).
Oshin is the debut studio album by American rock band DIIV, released on June 26, 2012, by Captured Tracks. The album was produced by frontman Zachary Cole Smith.
Under Color of Official Right is the second album by Detroit post punk band Protomartyr. It was released on April 8, 2014 by Hardly Art.
The Agent Intellect is the third studio album by Detroit post-punk band Protomartyr, released on 9 October 2015. The first single from the album, "Why Does It Shake" was released on 14 July 2015, along with the formal announcement of the album's title, release date, cover art and track listing. On 25 August the band released the second single for the album, "Dope Cloud". on 28 September the band released the third single for the album, "I Forgive You". On September 28, 2015 the album debuted on NPR First Listen.
Big Thief is an American indie rock band with folk roots based in Brooklyn, New York, United States. Its members are Adrianne Lenker, Buck Meek, Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums). All four members attended the Berklee College of Music, but only formed a group after each had graduated.
Gilla Band are an Irish post-punk and noise rock band from Dublin formed in 2011. The line-up comprises childhood friends Dara Kiely (vocals) and Alan Duggan (guitar), with Daniel Fox (bass) and Adam Faulkner (drums).
Relatives in Descent is the fourth studio album by American post-punk band Protomartyr released on 29 September 2017. Their first to be released through Domino Recording Company, the album is much darker and more philosophical than its predecessors. While lyrically not a concept album, it is produced so that many songs flow from one to another seamlessly. Relatives in Descent received critical acclaim upon release, with many publications ranking it one of the best albums of the year.
Stef Chura is an American indie rock musician from Detroit, Michigan.
Consolation is an EP released by the American band Protomartyr in 2018. It features Kelley Deal on two of its four tracks and was released to critical acclaim from several sources.
Crumb is an American indie rock band. The group is a collaboration of Brooklyn-based musicians Lila Ramani, Jesse Brotter, Bri Aronow, and Jonathan Gilad (drums), who met while attending Tufts University.
Ultimate Success Today is the fifth studio album by American post-punk band Protomartyr. Thematically inspired by lead singer Joe Casey's mid-life crisis in the wake of the band's debut being reissued, the album - conceived as a "valediction" of the band's first decade together - was recorded in 2019 at Dreamland Recording Studios in Hurley, New York with the help of producer David Tolomei. The sessions saw the band playing and recording as a single unit, even to the extent of following similar daily routines. It also notably features collaborations with a number of guest musicians such as Jemeel Moondoc and Fred Lonberg-Holm. The lyrics, mostly written by Casey on the spot, have been described as dark and apocalyptic; while the music has been found to be subtler and more dynamic than the band's past releases.
Joe K. B. Casey is an American musician based out of Detroit, best known as the lead vocalist & lyricist of post-punk band Protomartyr. He is known for his distinctive vocal style, "anti-charisma[tic]" stage presence, and sardonic, literary lyrics which often incorporate philosophical themes. He is also responsible for creating the band's visual aesthetic.