Dark Synth Band Provoker Closes the Casket on ‘Mausoleum’

Letting go. It’s one of the hardest things human beings have to do in this life. And—oftentimes—we can’t. After all, it’s one of the reasons why we invented photography, the ability to capture single moments forever. There’s an entire television show dedicated to hoarding.

Then there’s the oldest and most obvious form of not being able to let go: cemeteries. Our entire species, for thousands of years, has created burial places for our dead because the living can’t—and don’t want to—fully let go.

So it’s only appropriate that San Jose post-punk trio Provoker—who play The Ritz on Saturday, headlining a bill with Choir Boy, Touching Ice and DJ Basura—came up with this title for their latest album about letting go: Mausoleum.

“I was living in an attic in Echo Park in the house Jon [band fou