The Agent Intellect

The Agent Intellect
Studio album by Protomartyr
Released	9 October 2015
Recorded	The Key Club in Benton Harbor, Michigan[1]
Genre	Post-punk indie rock Noise rock
Label	Hardly Art
Protomartyr chronology
Under Color of Official Right (2014) The Agent Intellect (2015)
Singles from The Agent Intellect
"Why Does It Shake?" Released: 14 July 2015 "Dope Cloud" Released: 25 August 2015 "I Forgive You" Released: September 28, 2015

The Agent Intellect is the third studio album by Detroit post-punk band Protomartyr, released on 9 October 2015.^[2] The first single from the album, "Why Does It Shake" was released on 14 July 2015, along with the formal announcement of the album's title, release date, cover art and track listing.^[3] On 25 August the band released the second single for the album, "Dope Cloud".^[4] on 28 September the band released the third single for the album, "I Forgive You".^[5] On September 28, 2015 the album debuted on NPR First Listen.^[6]

The album is named after an ancient medieval philosophical questioning of how the mind operates in relation to the so-called active intellect, also known as agent intellect and other names.^[7]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	85/100[8]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Pitchfork Media	(8.2/10)[9]
The Guardian	[10]
Spin	(8/10)[11]
Paste	(7.8/10)[12]
Q	(8/10)
Nothing but Hope and Passion	[13]
Rolling Stone	[14]
Consequence of Sound	A-[15]
Now	[16]
The New York Times	(8/10)[17]
DIY	[18]
NME	[19]
The A.V. Club	B+[20]
AllMusic	[21]

The Agent Intellect was met with positive reviews from contemporary reviewers. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 85, which indicates "Universal acclaim", based on 20 reviews.^[8] The Guardian critic Kate Hutchinson thought: "This isn’t spiky postpunk like their last album – it’s more unhinged: they’ve swapped hooks for a dirgy epicness, distortion bulldozes through, sometimes flaring angrily, punctured by driving, truly affecting drums. As poignant as those images of a decrepit Motor City, once brilliant, now decayed."^[10] Sam Lefebvre of Paste magazine described the album as "an album of spindly bass, needling guitar and economical drums." Lefebvre further added "And yet, with Protomartyr’s inventive ensemble flare, it sounds like much more."^[11]

The A.V. Club gave the album a B+ rating and thought that: "The Agent Intellect is an impressive addition to the band’s small discography, and it hints that bigger, bolder work may lay ahead.".^[20] Allmusic thought that: "Protomartyr's music is smart without wearing its intellect on its sleeve, and physically strong enough to support the ideas lurking behind Casey's lyrics,and The Agent Intellect is an album that challenges both the mind and the body; if you're looking for further confirmation that Protomartyr are one of the smartest and toughest bands of their day, this album is what you need.".^[21] In a review for Rolling Stone, Zach Kelly thought that: this LP feels like a testament to perseverance, with world-weary humor and introspection providing flashes of clarity".^[14]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank
The AV Club	The 15 Best Albums of 2015	2015	11[22]
Chicago Tribune (Greg Kot)	The 10 Best Albums of 2015	2015	3[23]
Rolling Stone (Rob Sheffield)	The Top 20 Albums of 2015	2015	9[24]
Metacritic	The Best Albums of 2015	2015	17[25]
Spin	The 50 Best Albums of 2015	2015	20[26]
Consequence of Sound	Top 50 Albums of 2015	2015	13[27]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Protomartyr. 

No.	Title	Length
1.	"The Devil in His Youth"	2:39
2.	"Cowards Starve"	3:38
3.	"I Forgive You"	3:03
4.	"Boyce or Boice"	3:39
5.	"Pontiac 87"	4:33
6.	"Uncle Mother's"	4:21
7.	"Dope Cloud"	2:58
8.	"The Hermit"	2:34
9.	"Clandestine Time"	3:09
10.	"Why Does It Shake?"	4:47
11.	"Ellen"	6:24
12.	"Feast of Stephen"	2:26
Total length:		44:11

Charts

Chart (2015)	Peak position
US Top Heatseekers Albums (Billboard)[28]	3

References

1. "Q&A: Protomartyr On Their New Album The Agent Intellect + "Why Does It Shake?"".
2. "Hardly Art - Protomartyr - Shop".
3. "Protomartyr Announce ‘The Agent Intellect’ LP With Shuddering ‘Why Does It Shake?’".
4. "Protomartyr unveils new song "Dope Cloud" — listen".
5. "Protomartyr shares new song “I Forgive You” — listen".
6. "First Listen: Protomartyr, 'The Agent Intellect".
7. "The Agent Intellect by Protomartyr".
8. "Reviews for The Agent Intellect by Protomartyr". Metacritic. Retrieved October 13, 2015.
9. "Protomartyr: The Agent Intellect Album Reviews Pitchfork". Pitchfork Media. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
10. "Protomartyr: The Agent Intellect review – epic, dirgy portrait of gravelly malaise". The Guardian. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
11. "Review: Protomartyr See Life Through to Its Lack of Conclusion on ‘The Agent Intellect’". Spin. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
12. "Protomartyr: The Agent Intellect Review". Paste Magazine. 6 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
13. "Protomartyr – ‘The Agent Intellect’". NBHAP. 5 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
14. "The Agent Intellect". Rolling Stone. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
15. "Protomartyr – The Agent Intellect". Consequence Of Sound. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
16. ">>> PROTOMARTYR The Agent Intellect". Now (newspaper). 7 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
17. "Review: Protomartyr’s ‘The Agent Intellect’ Builds a Monument to Tension". The New York Times. 7 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
18. "PROTOMARTYR - THE AGENT INTELLECT". DIY (magazine). 9 October 2015. Retrieved 10 October 2015.
19. "NME Reviews Protomartyr - 'The Agent Intellect'". NME. 8 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
20. "Protomartyr’s winning streak continues on its second album in two years". The A.V. Club. 9 October 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
21. "The Agent Intellect - Protomartyr". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 October 2015.
22. "The 15 Best Albums Of 2015". The AV Club. The Onion. December 7, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
28. "Protomartyr - Chart history | Billboard". Billboard. Retrieved October 23, 2015.