by David Wilikofsky
The first and only time I saw Protomartyr play live was at a car wash in Brooklyn. Looking back, the lineup for the day was absolutely insane. Sheer Mag, Porches, Downtown Boys and Destruction Unit were all on the bill. I remember trying to convince a bunch of friends to join me but couldn’t find any takers so I went alone, unsure how long I would hang around. Protomartyr had just released their third album, The Agent Intellect, a week or two before. I was more familiar with some of the other bands on the bill, but Protomartyr blew me away. The band was primed to go from the beginning, creating a swirling post-punk din around frontman Joe Casey. He stood in the center of the chaos around him, delivering his lyrics like a punk prophet. It was pure magic. It gave me the energy to stay for the rest of the bill.
I mention this story because the band’s newest album, Ultimate Success Today, brings me back to that performance more than any other record they’ve released. The band sounds absolutely massive throughout the album. The instrumentals hit with precision; look no further than the guitar attack of “Processed By The Boys” and “I Am You Now,” or the push and pull of “Modern Business Hymns”. Joe Casey sounds like vintage Nick Cave, delivering fire and brimstone truths over the din. It’s stadium rock for the era of quarantine.
Although the album was written and recorded before the Coronavirus pandemic really picked up steam here in the states, it feels like the band anticipated the chaos of 2020. Lyrics talk about “foreign disease washed upon the beach” and “riots in the streets”. The spectre of the cops lingers in the background of “June 21,” which refers to police sirens piercing through the summer night. Death and capitalism and technology hover at the edges of other tracks. It’s an album that has encapsulated much of the uncertainty that permeates our lives.
The refrain “ultimate success” pops up multiple times throughout the album. At first it reads as a self fulfilling mantra (“ultimate success today”), but later takes on a darker message (“Everybody knows only the end can claim ultimate success”). The turn of phrase feels particularly apt in a time where anything can take on insidious undertones if you look close enough. Yet despite the darkness, there is no denying the simple pleasures to be found in moments of both melody and chaos throughout the album. They say that art is a product of its environment, and with Ultimate Success Today Protomartyr have perfectly captured the ethos of 2020.