Interpol
albums
bound to diminish somewhat over time because they started off so strong (examples: The Strokes, The
Pretenders, Jonathan Richman, Rickie Lee Jones, etc.). The band mixes influences from all of rock's best "gloom"
bands into something new and unique that actually stacks up with the mentors. The hype surrounding Interpol
often comes with great criticism that the band is not original, henceforth not any good. Well, thats just stupid.
Many bands wear their influences on their sleeves and it has nothing to do with making great music; the point is
to see how each band is different from the next and what they add to the cannon. Well, any band that can add
songs like "NYC", "Evil", "Mammoth", "Wrecking Ball", and "Obsticle 1" to the rock n' roll party book is worth a look
in my opinion. The band has produced a couple of great albums so far in Turn Off the Bright Lights and Our Love
to Admire and they just keep getting better.
Band Members: Daniel Kessler - Guitar
Carlos Dengler - Bass
Paul Banks - Vocals, Guitar
Sam Fogarino - Drums
Best Album: Our Love to Admire
Biggest Influences: The Doors, U2, The Cure
2002
Turn off the Bright Lights - 7/8
This album was touted as the zeitgeist of the 00's way too early, but it is a great debut. The first four songs
especially paint a vivid picture of gloom and longing uncommon to rookie musicians. Along the way, influences
such as The Smiths, U2, Joy Division, The Doors, and Sonic Youth can be heard. To be honest, it takes a while
to absorb the album because the first four tracks are SO GOOD! "Untitled" is just about a perfect opener that
sets the tone for the whole record; "Obstacle 1" is a driving and complicated blast of rock emotion; "NYC" is one
of the most beautiful ballads in rock, and the obscure lyrics only add to the songs mystique; "PDA" is the easiest
song to like at first, but still is pretty brutal in its chugging guitar sound. Other highlights that grow on you include
the Ranaldo-Moore homage "Roland"; the guitar instrumental "Hands Away"; "Obsticle 2" is the other song that
stacks up with the first four songs in quality. The tracks I haven't mentioned are the reasons the album is not
perfect, and the last two songs kind of meander into nothing so the album ends pretty weak. Still, there is more
than enough reasons that Interpol made such an impact in 2002. This is a great album that shows a band that
takes its influences and creates something completely new with it, like all great debuts should. - Trevor e.y.
1.untitled- 4
2.obstacle 1- 4
3.nyc- 4
4.pda- 4
5.say hello to the angels- 3
6.hands away- 4
7.obstacle 2- 4
8.stella was a driver and she was always down- 3
9.roland- 4
10.the new- 2
11.leif erikson- 2
2004
Antics - 6/8
Not a sophomore slump, but a transitional record. The band still has plenty to say in songs like "Evil", "The
Length of Love" and "Next Exit", all those rank with the best the band has done and the "style" remains about the
same. The strange thing about Antics is that the lesser songs are kind of the most interesting. For example, I
would not call "Slow Hands" or "C'mere" a great song but I do think that they point where the band is going. It is
obvious on there tracks that the band is interested in expanding its sound, but they haven't quite found a way yet.
This fact is unique almost exclusively to Interpol, and it helps the band quite a bit that they are interesting when
also kind of boring. Then again, songs like "Narc", "Not Even Jail", and "Take You On a Cruise" are pretty lame
and interrupt the records flow, hence it never builds any steam. Antics is the perfect example of a transitional
record, but it is one of the better transitional records, at once being more accessible and harder to get into then
the debut. Sound confusing? Well, it is.- Trevor e.y.
1.next exit- 4
2.evil- 4
3.narc- 2
4.take you on a cruise- 2
5.slow hands- 3
6.not even jail- 2
7.public pervert- 3
8.c'mere- 3
9.length of love- 4
10.a time to be so small- 3
2007
Our Love to Admire - 8/8
This album is like nothing else ever heard in rock music. Is that or a good thing or a bad thing? Well, it could
go either way, but it suffices to say Our Love to Admire succeeds brilliantly. Some songs are immediate, and
some are growers. The band combines the themes of Turn off the Bright Lights with the polish and sheen of
Antics, producing an album that seems "lost" and "slick" to the untrained ear. In reality, not one of these songs
can be described as simple. "Mammoth", "Rest My Chemistry", and "The Scale" are easy to enjoy but not
predictable pop. "Who Do You Think", "No I in Threesome", and "Pace is the Trick" are bouncy and likable but
hardly happy. "Pioneer to the Falls", and the two closers "Wrecking Ball" and "Lighthouse" seem to belong to
another album altogether, but fit in well. The trick the band does is by seeming normal but being deceitful. In the
lyrics, someone can sense a kind of treachery whether internal or external. A broken heart lies at the center of
the album, containing Bank's best lyrics yet: "Nobody warned you, nobody told you to make up your mind/I'm
inside like a wrecking ball through your eyes", "I've slept for 2 days, I've bathed in nothing but sweat/ and I've
made hallways it seems for things to regret", "All that we need is one thing now what is there to allow/ you feel the
sweet breath of time it's whispering it's truth not mine - there's no I in threesome".
Overall, the theme musically and lyrically is that of a lost soul. Like any great record, there are moments of
beauty within songs: the overlapping vocals at the end of "Pace is the Key"; the backwards guitar on "The Scale";
the lushness and atmosphere of "The Lighthouse". The record has a nice flow to it, and it shows the confidence
behind the musicians that it succeeds so well. This is definitely a gloomy record, consistent with the rest of
Interpol, but it all adds up to the best album the band has done yet- a perfect musical creation by a unified band.
It's the most intriguing "void of sound" Interpol has made. It is important to not that rock music has gone beyond
blues in many cases. "The Lighthouse" is a hell of a lot more interesting than say, "Riders on the Storm" from the
band's primary influence, The Doors. Bands like Interpol that push our boundaries may not be immediately
accessible but on subsequent listens reveal very interesting stuff. Our Love to Admire is very ahead of its time
and hopefully someday people will place it among the classics of the 00's like it deserves. - Trevor e.y.
1.pioneer to the falls- 4
2.no i in threesome- 4
3.the scale- 4
4.the heinrich maneuver- 3
5.mammoth- 4
6.pace is the trick- 4
7.all fired up- 3
8.rest my chemistry- 4
9.who do you think- 4
10.wrecking ball- 4
11.the lighthouse- 4
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