Across dark skies and urban decay of New England comes the soundtrack to the post-Sept. 11th world, where insular fear and lifestyle uncertainty goes hand in hand with daily existence. Much like the barren Manchester landscape that bore heroes of days past, Boston’s sometimes dry machinations and fragmented scene spawned Protokoll.

Much like the demographic of the band’s home base of Allston Village, Protokoll’s origins stretched deep through cultural and musical differences, but emerged as one solid being that has acquired, shed and re-acquired every attempt at branding.

“Disarm the harm which comes along / It gives an arm to us with all its charms / With thoughts and crimes we strive to bind / What we can’t find upon the barren climes,” –Moving Forward

Mechanical sounds stretched like thin plastic synthetic beats over metallic shoegaze distortion and feedback, Protokoll’s sound rips the normalcy of now, casting it aflutter in the yesteryear and future world where beat evolution isn’t so easily pegged. Taking equal parts crowded dance floor and quiet darkened bedroom, Protokoll lays the foundation of tomorrow’s soundtrack. Adroitly weaving human tales of drugs, death and depression with technology’s mechanical evolution and ever-changing cybernetics, usually contrasting themes are rolled into one message.

Screeching guitars, dancing bass lines, mountainous drum beats and iridescent synth lines all add up to a melodic, atmospheric and gritty sound that gently bows to its heroes but keeps a snickering eye on the future. But forces like this aren’t immediately conceived.

“We're out tasting brine / From salty sea burials / Hoping to find, hoping to find” – Holy Divine

In the early part of the decade, vocalist/guitarist Jose De Lara (a San Diego transplant) and guitarist/keyboardist Ben Greenspan (a native Bostonian) toiled together in avant-punk outfit Black Freighter. After hooking up with ska-circuit veteran and fellow Bostonian Danny O’Neill on bass, Protokoll was officially christened.

Though the sound was complex, De Lara focused on the name. “Digital computing systems rely on protocols and languages in order to function,” he said. “There is a hierarchy of data manipulation and control from the highest level programming language to the lowest level assembly language. Likewise, the human mind and all of its manifestations, collective or individual, relies on protocols and languages for social organization, interpretation, and analysis. Protokoll represents an amalgamation of these two vastly different systems by combining both digital information with human instrumental integration”

With a drum holding down the beat, the trio took aim at both basement shows and the club circuit, often marred by technical problems that beset the most seasoned of synthpop acts. Enter Davis, California native Reid Calkin, who’s tight-fisted style was honed in the West Coast hardcore and punk scene.

The live drumming gave balls to Protokoll’s sound, with each guitar, bass and synth line growing more menacing with Calkin’s calculated pounding pushing it forward. Any signs of simple pop music gave way to a more intense, maniacal sound that took all corners of inspiration – from German EBM to ska to soulful funk to gutter punk – and mathematically weaved it into a wall of sound. Now a quartet, the band as we know it was born.

“When we hope for some mastery without the fear of consequence. Consequent lines succeed when nothing else is present,” – Delicado

Echoing the sound of an underground revolt, picking clean the artist’s ethos of sub-street Allston and channeling it into a post-punk explosion, Protokoll’s tireless gigs and savvy aesthetic appealed to both the basement punks and the indie elite. Performing on sweaty church hall floors, crowded living room corners and alcohol-doused bar stages, the band united scenes that rarely – if ever -- share bloodlines or common intrigue or interest.

In spring 2005, the band’s self-released debut EP dropped, bringing the electro-punk genre a new sneering face. Five compositions about loss and life’s destruction only magnified the band’s growing reputation as leaders of the new dark musical landscape.

Many were drawn to De Lara’s brooding, vampiric vocal delivery, which perfectly suited the glistening silver-crash riot of Protokoll’s musical pace, one that flared with punk abandon one moment, slid effortlessly through glistening guitar rips on another and then chilled with 80s new wave cool the next.

The deliberate synth float of “Holy Divine,” the pulsating metallic reach of “Moving Forward” and dancing bass push of “Sunken” all came together on a debut that echoed the best efforts of Bauhaus, the Sound and the Chameleons. Scrappy guitar rock and polished dance music have rarely been so easily married.

The release also captured the imagination of radio, taking the band to audiences across New England through heavy rotation on FNX Radio and into the bedrooms of the UK, as BBC1’s Steve Lamacq and Zane Lowe both showered accolades on the new face of Boston rock.

The swaying trees and the whistling windows/ The quiet sounds of empty games / The lonesome party / The arid tear/ Missing time and missing people.” – Sunken

From there, the world grew smaller. Protokoll toured relentlessly, crossing the pond twice over and zigzagging the lower 48, catching the promotion attention of the UK’s Illicit Recordings, who dropped two singles under its guide as well as L.A. hipster maestro Frankie Chan of I Heart Comix, who re-released the EP on his label. Even the NME, the UK’s venerable weekly music publication, relentlessly fawned over the band with a voice usually reserved for Britain’s homegrown products.

While the reputation grew, Protokoll built its name on punk-fueled live shows. The band set out to conquer Europe for a two-month tilt in fall 2006, as it looked to build upon its earlier European jaunt that culminated with a sold-out appearance at the NME’s famed Club Koko in London’s Camden Town. In just more than a year’s time, the band shared the stage with the likes of She Wants Revenge, Gary Numan, Annie, Wolfmother and the Rakes.

With the recording of videos for dance floor stomper “DNR” and “Sunken,” and a planned appearance at the 2007 SXSW festival in Austin, Texas, Protokoll are aiming its double-barreled post-punk assault at the world twice over.

This is the future sound of tomorrow. This is the sound of Protokoll’s now.

“End for me, this process is turning / End for me, the pyre flame is burning / End for me, no brain waves are measured / End for me, the last human treasure,” D.N.R.

-- Michael Marotta

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