That sense of reckless abandon is here on Ultimate Success Today, but the evolution of the band has meant that, sonically at least, this is a much more advanced and progressive record than the debut.
Ultimate Success Today has the power of an exorcism, and even if it is not a cure for the sickness, it is somewhere to hide in these dark times.
While Ultimate Success Today does not quite have the singles potential of previous Protomartyr records, it easily has the best flow. It is a masterclass in how to write a perfectly tight, inspiring rock album.
Ultimate Success Today sees frontman Joe Casey focus his beat-poet style to a razor-sharp precision, lamenting the continuing decline of his city, state and country.
Protomartyr were a long shot gamble from the start ... And yet here they still are, finding beauty in the rubble, resilience in crushing depression. Like their ravaged hometown, they seem somehow invincible.
Approached with the premonition that it might be their last record, Ultimate Success Today is convulsed by End Times thoughts of collapse and an American dream eating itself.
This is 2020 in pained, reverb dripping sound waves. This is the isolation. This is the pandemic. This is everything. The doom may have arrived, but at least Protomartyr are back in our lives.
With stadium rock riffs and saxophone over lyrics about riots and respirators, the Detroit post-punks are the soundtrack of an uncertain future.
Ultimate Success Today is thought-provoking, distinctive and testament to the boldness of post-punk in the present day.
The concept behind the music can only be as moving as the music itself, and, thankfully, Protomartyr delivers. The band’s knack for meaty percussion and jagged guitars continues.
The restless punk spirit and flippant, downtrodden ethos that prevail over the project render Protomartyr’s painstaking intellectualizations as fuel for a visceral winding up and release of discontent.
Ultimate Success Today sounds timely in 2020, but this music would be a smart, compelling accompaniment for staring into the abyss as it begins to look back, no matter what the year.
Post-punk's Protomartyr have honed their sound into something apocalyptic on their defiantly modernist Ultimate Success Today.
Disjointed sounds and anger in extremis from Detroit post-punks.
Ultimate Success Today, is an aggressive and unflinching listen. Filled to the brim with screeching guitars, ominous bass and pounding drums in never lets up in terms of its intensity.
Ultimate Success Today stands as an exceptionally thrilling rock record, even if it does little to push Protomartyr into unexplored territory.
There’s a clear sense of foreboding imbued in each of these offerings and the darkness and doom continue to linger throughout.
Protomartyr attempt a more climactic formula on Ultimate Success Today, with mixed results.
#8 | / | Loud and Quiet |
#17 | / | NBHAP |
#18 | / | No Ripcord |
#19 | / | Beats Per Minute |
#22 | / | Piccadilly Records |
#30 | / | Drift |
#32 | / | Paste |
#43 | / | Slant Magazine |