In 2017 Protomartyr and Big Thief pretty much ruled my world. I thought the two of them had everything you could possibly want from a band. Intent, purpose, passion, tunes. Make your own list and whatever's on it I thought these two had in spades. I was blessed in that both of them, in addition to releasing quite storming albums that year, also came to play in the city that I live in and I got to see them. Neither of them let me down. They were two highly memorable nights.
That year was not an easy one for me. I suffered a major bereavement at the tail end of it. One of those moments in life for which you can never be fully prepared for. It was also a rather bleak year for the world too. While neither Protomartyr nor Big Thief consoled me in either respect particularly, (they're neither of them particularly cheery bands), their music seemed very much of the times. Sometimes you need to stare the world in the eye for good or ill.
Now we're three years on and I'd still say that the two of them were the best 'young' bands in the world right now. I say that guardedly, Joe Casey, Protomartyr's frontman is well into his forties.. But both still have an intensity, an edge and flair that few can match.. While Big Thief at last seem to be lying low, at least temporarily, having released not one but two fabulous albums last year, it's just grand to have Protomartyr back, with Ultimate Success Today, the follow up to Relatives In Descent, which I chose as my album of the year three years back.
And I'm delighted to find on its first few spins that this new one is every much the equal of its remarkable successor. Given a few more I might decide it's even best it. This is rather a pleasant surprise to me as I hadn't been blown aware by any of the tracks that came ahead of its release. But all of these suddenly make perfect sense in this context. Ultimate Success Today is another blinding statement.
Though not for a moment one of consolation, if you, like me are disquietened by the state of the world right now. It's difficult not to be. Because Protomartyr, both musically and lyrically are unneringly dark and unflinching, consumed in dread in terms of their degree of scrutiny. There's plenty of irony and mordant humour at play but still, this is never easy listening. The band get fed up with being pigeonholed in this respect but I'm afraid given the briefest exposure to what they do this conclusion is inevitable. This is end times music. Fight Club or Cormac McCarthy's The Road. The musicals.
The well that they draw on is essentially Post Punk in terms of its nuts and bolts. Its DNA. From that brief window of musical history from about 1978 to 1981 where bands like PiL, Pere Ubu, Gang of Four, Joy Division, The Pop Group and The Fall explored some of the darkest areas of the human psyche. Casey is often compared to Mark E. Smith and though he shares some features of Smith's absurdist charisma, I'd suggest he's actually closer to Ubu's David Thomas in terms of his intent and delivery. David Thomas fronting Joy Division.
Protomartyr are a Detroit band. A metropolis of decaying, essentially dead manufacturing legacy. Ubu meanwhile hailed from Cleveland, another urban powerhouse of America's industrial past. Another band I'm minded of are The Stooges who were also spawned in Detroit. This comparison is strengthened on Ultimate Success Today by them adding squalling sax to their musical armoury. Reminders of Steve Mackay and his contribution to Funhouse. The Stooges like Protomartyr, like Ubu were notoriously ill at ease in the America that they found themselves in.
This is the band's fifth album and Casey has already suggested in interview that the world and the state it's in may dictate that it's their last. Of course they are unable to tour in support of this record. This is a great shame because it showcases them in the rudest musical and emotional health. They're a veritable powerhouse here.
This certainly feels like an end station in terms of this kind of musical expression for both Casey and the band. It's difficult to imagine how they could top this. Then again I thought the same about Relatives in Descent. But certainly in terms of the themes explored they may need to go somewhere else from here. Or else risk repeating themselves. In the meantime, this is very much more than enough.
PS For a more explcit review of the themes explored on the record, please read Alex Petridis' excellent Guardian article.
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