Protomartyr – “Ultimate Success Today” (July 17, 2020)

Protomartyr all doom and gloom?

By Steve Forrest

Upon first listen, Detroit’s own Protomartyrs latest LP “Ultimate Success Today” seems like the usual gloomy, poetic post punk rock music that we’ve grown accustomed to over the past 8 years and in a lot of ways it is. However, I feel that the bands growing popularity has affected their sound in a subtle, yet noticeable way and you can hear it in the thoughtful writing of this album.

The songs themselves seem well rounded, the production is dark and moody, and the instrumentation is simple and effective. There’s the hopeful and somewhat romantic “hook” that appears in every track right when you least expect it, and I think it’s the mixture of these textures which allows the band to sink its teeth deep into your unsuspecting mind and make a little home for itself. It’s the balance of the doom and gloom with these beautiful, shoegazey structures, and even the addition of a moody almost Bowie esc saxophone on this release that creates the perfect concoction of art and post punk rock that fans of the group will go nuts for.

When I first heard Protomartyr, the music made me feel kind of dirty and disjointed, and I couldn’t figure out if I loved or hated it, but once I was halfway through their 2017 “Relatives in Descent” I was hooked and couldn’t stop listening. There was something in it that grabbed me and spoke to my “outside of the box” state of mind and with “Ultimate Success Today” I feel those same sensations times ten.

Lyrically, I still have no idea what vocalist Joe Casey is on about half the time, yet his poetry is affective, thought provoking, and urges me to look deeper into the meaning of the songs and even find my own truth within them.

This is a terrific album but not for the faint of heart. For those who startle easily by disjointed, dark rock, I say go find something safe and warm, but for those who dare to discover, then “Ultimate Success Today” is certainly the one for you.