I love the title of Protomartyr‘s new album – Ultimate Success Today. It’s a great encapsulation of modern living. Everyone wants to be the ultimate success, which can be a worthy goal if one’s motives are good, but the key is in the last word of the album’s title. Everyone wants ultimate success today. We want everything now and, thanks to advertising and the internet, we fully expect to be able to have it now or before anyone else.
The album is about not only this consumerist desire and addiction, but also fear (of the path the world seems to be taking), how the world’s energy affects us, and how our actions, big or small, affect the world.
Opening track “Day Without End” builds over the course of three minutes and sixteen seconds with surging guitars from Greg Ahee, frantic cymbals by Alex Leonard, and sermon-like vocals from Joe Casey. Scott Davidson‘s bass leads the outstanding “Being Processed By the Boys” along a dark, menacing road while Casey sings about “a dagger punched from out of the shadows,” “a cosmic grief beyond all comprehension,” and “a giant beast turning mountains into black holes.” So, yeah, light fare.
“Though I have no face, country, or creed, I am better than you are,” Casey sings on “I Am You Now” – a song that claps back at the anger expressed by so many over so little. It also has some of Leonard’s best drumming on the album. He seems to play nothing but drum fills and cymbal rolls. He’s not. It’s far more complex, a sort of controlled chaos. “Narcissism is a killer,” Casey sings on “The Aphorist” – which might be the most “upbeat” track on Ultimate Success Today. He’s right. It is, and so is that wicked bridge around the two-and-a-half-minute mark.
Nandi Rose joins Casey on the vocals for “June 21,” which brings in post-punk guitar work from Ahee for a neat change in direction. “Michigan Hammers” moves along at a quick groove thanks to Leonard’s passionate drumming and Davidson’s bear trap-locked in bass line. His bass is pure fuzzed-out bliss on “Tranquilizer,” which also has a great saxophone line running through it by jazz legend Jameel Moondoc. The song explodes into a wild, head-spinning cacophony and then settles down before it makes you lose (or loose) your mind.
The fast, post-punk riffs of “Modern Business Hymns” are fantastic. “Bridge Crown” slows down to almost a goth-country sound before Casey starts crooning about, you guessed it, ultimate success (which is also referenced in the song before it by name). Casey opens the closing track, “Worm in Heaven,” with the lyrics, “So it’s time to say goodbye. I was never too keen on last words.” The song is the closest thing to a ballad on the album, and one can’t help but wonder if it’s a sign-off for not only the album but also the band. I hope not, because Protomartyr are firing on all cylinders right now.
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Jacob at Pitch Perfect PR.]
