It’s hard to imagine why Protomartyr aren’t more popular than they are. They’ve already captured their visceral and dystopian post punk sound across two excellent albums. The Agent Intellect continues that fine form and pushes the dynamic even further into primal rhythms with wire-brush screes of guitar and the distinctive disaffected howl and Mark E Smith-styled rant of frontman Joe Casey. The way they sonically blend beautiful and bruised sounds is what makes their music so appealing. It sparks and spits, Casey’s black humour lyrics are both catchy and provocative but above all, in 2015, Protomartyr are a breath of dissonant fresh air.

Chris Familton