Protomartyr ;" Ultimate Success Today"

This band from Detroit who is no stranger to this blog has established themselves as more than just another post punk revivalist band. I can respect them steering away from the Ian Curtis vocal tone for the more Nick Cave like sound. The second song has more of a throbbing groove that takes you further into than the opening song that just hung on the tension without a great deal of pay off. The vocals take on more of a croon as the song progresses. By the time I am midway into  "I am You Now"  it has made  think what it might sound like if Iggy Pop covered "Paranoid".  They back off on "the Aphorist" which steers them more in a Elvis Costello direction. I think the fact they are focused on songs more than sounds here is a postive sign. This is also why they have set themselves apart from the post punk revival bands.

"June 21" continues to step further from post punk. With female vocals joining them and a more quirky take that has more in common with Television. There is a more explosive almost punk energy to "Michigan Hammers".  It is a pretty straight forward rock song that does not do as much for me as the bass driven weirdness that goes down on "Tranquillizer". Here the guitars stir up a burly mass of sound that has more in common with noise rock, in other words it would not have sounded out of place on Amp Rep in the 90s. The sax is a nice texture that while it is reoccuring over the course of the album, sets the best contrast here.

"Modern Business Hymns" benefits from the drumming propelling while the rest of the band saunters into indie rock similar to the Strokes. It is a well written song despite this sonic similarity .Iat descends into more of a drunken romp like Iceage used to kick up. "Bridge and Crown" works off a stacatto riff and languid croon. Not the album's best song , but it is still pretty decent. There is a more relaxed strum to "Worm In Heaven". The album's best vocal performance has a slight Neil Diamond feel to it. I will round this album down to an 8.5. Are they contining to perfect what they do ? Yes in a more streamlined sense. It is not as dark as some of their earlier work, which might be why this doesn't always connect as strongly with me. I think in the streamlining process it took off some of the edge. However if you prefer the band's more recent work then this will work for you.