INTERPOL
INTERPOL
MATADOR RECORDS
Interpol is like a steak dinner with a lot of garnish - you have to dig through to get to the meat of what’s going on. First there’s the hipster cool, then the suits, then the fact that they sound like Joy Division and finally, after all of that, you find that Interpol are a solid band who have come a long way since their debut album.
The hipster funeral parlor look has returned with the band’s self titled album and I for one have signed on. This is epic, sad, disastrously emotional music that is written to exploit feelings of melancholy and despair. With so much pop music either dedicated to false sentiments of love or infant bouts of angry tantrums it’s kind of nice to hear a band looking into deeper ideas.
For those who dismiss Interpol as being a Joy Division/New Order style rip off (of which I was one) my answer has now changed to, so what? Nobody else is doing this kind of music so even if Interpol aren’t the most original sounding band ever at least they’re going for it. Interpol opens in an epic fashion with the song “Success”. This is an eerie darkly orchestrated number that calls up a modern clash between pop depression and Another Brick In The Wall. I love that with all of the sadness Interpol never forget to toss in a catchy chorus. Not a Katy Perry type catchy but that chorus that infuses itself into us and we sing when things look bleak.
I’m also a fan of the Bowie and art disco influences going on in this album. Interpol sounds like The Killers if they all found out they had Cancer. I say that to mean the band writes just as catchy a pop super-tune as The Killers but removes the candy coating, instead dipping it in sour milk. Interpol is a usually rhythmic record for this kind of band, again something they share with Joy Division.
Usually this kind of music regulates the drummer to keep time only but Interpol, like Joy Division, invite the drums to be part of the song. The way the rhythms play off the guitars in “Summer Well” gives the song a three-dimensional feel it might not have other wise. Striking sadness into vocals and guitars are much easier than bringing along the bass and drums. Interpol, on some tunes, even brings the bass to the forefront giving the whole album a feel of real heaviness. Not in the overly macho heavy metal way but as if the burden of the world rested on Interpol’s thin shoulders.
Don’t get me wrong - everything isn’t perfect on Interpol. The main issue I’ve had with the band remains, even on this, their fourth album: repetition. When you’re infusing a dark and moody vibe into what you do their has to be changes in the songs. Joy Division, Fields Of The Nephelum, The Smiths, The Cure, Nick Cave, Bauhaus, all of these people took their pain and exorcised it through the music. That kind of honesty gives you variation and I find that just a bit lacking here.
I think Interpol get a big caught up in all they’re supposed to be and forget what they could be. That kind of honesty blazes through in the more experimental songs like “All Of The Ways” (the best song on the album for me) and “Always Malaise”. I hope as the band continues to grow they’ll trust their more honest emotions and write solely from that place in their heart. Stripped of their pretensions and confident in their own songwriting, Interpol could go on to be a very important band.
CRAVEONLINE RATING 8 OUT OF 10
