Looking for the buzz? Follow Protokoll.
If there is (or, in fact, ever was) a so-called “Boston sound,” Protokoll sure isn’t it. If anything, the Allston-based outfit with the danceable grooves and angular guitar riffs would seem to have far more in common with the United Kingdom post-punk scene that spawned the likes of New Order and the Cure, which in turn spawned overseas contemporaries like Bloc Party and Clinic. Of course, closer to home, New York City’s Interpol and the LA-based Rapture are also touchstones.
The members of Protokoll, who range in age from 21 to 26 years old and all look young enough to be carded as they take a seat to talk at the Model Café, are mulling over the influence of their forebears, and whether they feel a special kinship with the UK, where they’ve already toured twice since forming in Boston in the summer of 2004. Protokoll, which happens to be one of the most buzzed-about bands in the city right now, headlines T.T. the Bear’s Place in Cambridge tonight.
“Actually, I think we take after a lot of American underground bands — especially the guitar stuff from Sonic Youth and Dinosaur Jr.,” says singer-guitarist Jose De Lara, 26, gently refuting the UK-style description. “Every person in the band has their niche. [Bassist] Danny [O’Neill] is into Jamaican music, for me it’s synth-pop and shoegaze . . . [drummer] Reid [Calkin] is into good old rock ‘n’ roll, grunge, and heavy punk rock. We’re definitely a mishmash of crazy things. The unifying factor is that we all came from punk rock and hardcore, so there’s a lot of energy and chaotic movement that you don’t see in a lot of bands. Our amps are getting bigger and we’re definitely getting louder.”
Indeed, since its inception, Protokoll has steadily moved from a synthesizer-based New Wave-ish band with a drum machine that De Lara cofounded with guitarist Ben Greenspan (who has since left Protokoll) to something altogether harder-edged, woollier, and wilder. Which shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, considering De Lara’s teenage apprenticeship growing up in San Diego and playing in bands weaned on Minor Threat and Black Flag.
But guitars were not the order of the day when Protokoll first took shape. De Lara says he and Greenspan had just quit their old New Wave-inspired band, the Black Freighter, “to do something more electronic and laptop-based with a drum machine.” Shortly thereafter, O’Neill, a friend who had been playing bass with the ska-based rock-steady Boston band Mass Hysteria, heard the nascent Protokoll and asked to join. When then-Berklee student Calkin signed up after hearing the band, sans drummer, playing in a basement, Protokoll began to get noticed.
“Not too many other bands have a drummer who hits as hard,” says O’Neill, 22, complimenting Calkin before his bandmate arrives for the interview. “Even if he’s playing a dance beat, he plays it like a Melvins song — hard and heavy and relentless. He’s a strapping young gentleman and his drums pay the price for it.” When Calkin, 22, shows up and is told he’s just been called “strapping,” he smiles and wholeheartedly agrees.
Within the past year, Protokoll has toured parts of Europe, was asked to perform on BBC radio, and, once back home, was invited to compete in the annual WBCN Rumble (it went to the semifinals). Last November, Protokoll’s most recent self-titled EP was released by the Los Angeles-based IHEARTCOMIX Records label, and this summer, the group’s working on a slew of new material. Although Greenspan left the band in March to pursue his own garage-psych rock project called the Mmoss (which will play a support slot at tonight’s Protokoll show), the band has since found an able replacement in 21-year-old lead guitarist Ryan Z. In a version of the proverbial trial by fire, Ryan says he was forced to learn the entire Protokoll set list in just two days to prepare for the Rumble. Good thing that, as a fan and friend, he says he already knew most of the tunes by heart.
Despite what O’Neill characterizes as a “dramatic” year, Protokoll prefers to stay busy making music and touring. “Summer is the time when bands hit the road, but we’ve needed to save up money to buy a van,” says O’Neill. “We haven’t had a practice space for a year, so we haven’t had time to make a whole lot of creative progress. But we’re gearing up for September, when we’re going to hit the road again. Me and Jose live 20 feet from I-90, and our windows look right out on the highway. There are so many cars that it feels like the ocean — it’s constantly beckoning.”
Bits & Pieces Tonight Johnny Trama and the T-Unit are at Harpers Ferry. PT Walkley and the Adventures of Track Rabbit are at the Middle East Downstairs. Tomorrow Los Diablos is at the Plough & Stars. Sunday Unwritten Law is at Axis. Monday The Polyphonic Spree headlines Avalon. The Go is upstairs at the Middle East. Seymore Saves the World is at Great Scott. Tuesday The Redwalls are at T.T. the Bear’s. Thursday Built to Spill is at Avalon. The Street Dogs are at Axis. Permafrost reunites at T.T.’s. Club d’Elf is at the Lizard Lounge. Ex-Karate’s Geoff Farina is at the Plough.© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.Related links:
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