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**Protomartyr - Ultimate Success Today**
★★★★☆

In the grand tradition of Detroit rock and roll, where the city's industrial decay has birthed some of America's most vital music, Protomartyr emerged from the Motor City's post-millennium rubble like prophets of a particularly bleak gospel. By 2020, Joe Casey and his merry band of post-punk provocateurs had already carved out a formidable reputation across four albums, each one a meditation on American decline delivered through Casey's distinctive baritone growl and the band's taut, angular arrangements. But nothing quite prepared listeners for the existential weight of *Ultimate Success Today*, their fifth full-length that arrived like a perfectly timed soundtrack to civilizational anxiety.

The album's genesis traces back to sessions that began before the world went sideways, though its themes of isolation, paranoia, and societal fracture proved unnervingly prescient. Working once again with producer Greg Ahee, the band—completed by guitarist Greg Ahee, bassist Scott Davidson, and drummer Alex Leonard—crafted their most cohesive statement yet, one that channels decades of post-punk DNA while remaining thoroughly contemporary in its concerns.

Musically, Protomartyr have always occupied that fertile ground between the art-punk intellectualism of Wire and the blue-collar grit of The Fall, with Casey's Mark E. Smith-influenced vocal delivery serving as the band's most distinctive calling card. On *Ultimate Success Today*, they push further into experimental territory without abandoning their core strengths. The rhythm section locks into hypnotic grooves that wouldn't sound out of place on a Krautrock album, while Ahee's guitar work ranges from jagged post-punk stabs to more atmospheric textures that recall the moodier moments of Interpol or early Sonic Youth.

The album's opening salvo, "Day Without End," immediately establishes the record's claustrophobic mood with its relentless motorik beat and Casey's deadpan observations about endless repetition and meaninglessness. It's a perfect mission statement for an album obsessed with cycles of futility. The title track that follows serves as perhaps the band's most accessible moment, built around a genuinely catchy guitar riff that manages to be both urgent and melancholic. Casey's lyrics here are particularly sharp, skewering the hollow promises of self-improvement culture with lines that cut like broken glass.

"Processed by the Boys" stands as the album's masterpiece, a seven-minute epic that builds from a minimal bass line into a towering wall of sound. The track showcases the band's dynamic range, moving through passages of near-silence before erupting into cathartic noise. Casey's vocals here are particularly unhinged, channeling a kind of prophetic madness that recalls the best moments of The Birthday Party or early Nick Cave. Meanwhile, "Michigan Hammers" pays direct homage to the band's Detroit roots with a grinding, industrial-tinged arrangement that sounds like it was recorded in an abandoned auto plant.

The album's secret weapon might be "The Aphorist," where guest vocalist Nandi Rose Plunkett of Half Waif provides a haunting counterpoint to Casey's gruff delivery. The track's more melodic approach offers welcome respite from the album's generally punishing mood, though the lyrics remain as dark as anything else here. "June 21" closes the album on a note of ambiguous hope, its relatively gentle arrangement suggesting the possibility of renewal even as Casey's words remain characteristically pessimistic.

What makes *Ultimate Success Today* such a compelling listen is how it balances intellectual rigor with visceral impact. These aren't just art-school exercises in post-punk pastiche; they're songs that genuinely grapple with contemporary anxiety while maintaining the kind of rhythmic drive that can move bodies as well as minds. The production deserves particular praise for its clarity and space—every instrument sits perfectly in the mix, allowing the subtle interplay between the musicians to shine through.

In the broader context of Protomartyr's catalog, *Ultimate Success Today* represents both a culmination and a new beginning. It synthesizes the raw energy of their early work with the increased sophistication they've developed over the years, resulting in their most fully realized statement to date. The album has rightfully been hailed as one of 2020's finest, earning spots on numerous year-end lists and cementing the band's status as one of America's most vital post-punk acts.

For a band that has always specialized in making beautiful music about ugly subjects, *Ultimate