Hotel Usona
Studio album by Protomartyr
23
MENTIONS
7
EPISODES
7
PODCASTS
Search complete. 23 mentions across 7 episodes found for "Hotel Usona".
Oct 4, 2026
Charles HutchinsonHOST
who
Graham ChalmersHOST
have done a few albums now, and the album's called Hotel Usona.
Graham ChalmersHOST
a sort of concept album about the decline of America although it's not it's a bit oblique it's not as blatant as that well they've been slowly getting bigger and I saw them live at the Brudenell Club in Leeds last year and they've been slowly getting better a bit like Mogwai slowly got better and bigger and this album's got their best ever reviews mainly because it's probably the most tuneful album because they're they're a sort of like slightly darker most more post-rock version of Interpol
Charles HutchinsonHOST
hmm
Matthew Amster-BurtonHOST
Okay, this one isn't quite out yet when we're recording this, but it will be by the time you hear it.
Matthew Amster-BurtonHOST
It's Proto Martyr's Hotel Usona.
Matthew Amster-BurtonHOST
I don't know how to say the word.
Matthew Amster-BurtonHOST
Proto Martyr, do you know them? I do not.
speaker_16UNKNOWN
You're tired if you're frightened
Steve VickersHOST
From the new album by Pro Tomato, Hotel Usona.
Steve VickersHOST
That was Lavender Gospel.
Steve VickersHOST
And before that, it was a new artist, wasn't it? It was Sen Morimoto and Chewing Gum.
Ian CohenHOST
[laughs]
Steven HydenHOST
... out today called Hotel Usona.
Steven HydenHOST
Um, and I can't talk about this album because, uh, the publicist wouldn't send it to me.
Steven HydenHOST
I, I asked to, to hear it 'cause I wanted to talk about it.
Liz WarnerGUEST
Steven, hi.
Liz WarnerGUEST
How are you? I wanna talk about the band Protomartyr, and their latest record is called Hotel Usona.
Joe CaseySOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Welcome back to the dream of a rotten mind.
Joe CaseySOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
The rooms are half empty.
Joe CaseySOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
Go, go.
Stephen ThompsonHOST
That is Protomartyr.
Stephen ThompsonHOST
Their new album is called Hotel Usona Now, Liz, I say this every week, couldn't possibly get to every great record out today, September 25th, so we wanted to do a lightning round of some of our other favorite albums, including bringing in some other members of the NPR Music team.
Stephen ThompsonHOST
But Liz Warner, I'm gonna have you kick us off.
speaker_0HOST
Hailing from Detroit, Protomata have become one of the defining bands in contemporary American post-punk.
speaker_0HOST
The band have just released their seventh formidable studio album, Hotel Usona, which takes aim at American imperialism, cultural hegemony, and modern geopolitics while expanding on their well-established sound.
speaker_0HOST
I sat down with Greg and Joe during Protomata's tour of Australia to chat 50s exotica, music as a place, and more.
speaker_0HOST
Joe and Greg from Prada Mata.
speaker_0HOST
How do you keep yourselves creatively nimble and developing as artists over that time?
GregGUEST
I mean, that's a good question.
GregGUEST
I think every album we try to approach a little bit differently.
GregGUEST
Like, When I'm coming up with the music for our last album, tried to add some pedal steel.
Vish KhannaHOST
On September 25th, 2026, Domino Records brings us the seventh and possibly angriest album by Protomartyr to date.
Vish KhannaHOST
It's called Hotel Usona, and it led to Joe returning to this show for a talk about raising a family who enjoy visiting the zoo, how having a child can focus one's once random anger at the world in hopes that things might improve in the future, the United States of North America and my perception of Joe's obsession with Alberta, Canada, how transient hotels and 1950s exotica inform this new record, people's nostalgia for a phonier, more terrible time, the rise of democratic socialism in America and the trap of the internet age, horn sections as symbols of American patriotism, doing research and then writing lyrics, bombshells and homophones, Iggy Pop's love and support, upcoming tour dates, other future plans, and much more.
Vish KhannaHOST
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Vish KhannaHOST
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