New Music #7 Interpol

Interpol-Interpol


Interpol's debut 'Turn On The Bright Lights', released in 2002, was brilliant. It had hints of Joy Division with that added NYC sound. I feel like their records have gone progressively down hill since. This does not mean that they were not good, I just feel they never developed beyond anything offered by 'TOTBL' Having said that, 'Antics' was still a great record.

Bassist Carlos D will be missed by the band. Although his bass lines were recorded before his departure, he was a great musician and presence within the band.

After preliminary listens to this self titled fourth album it seems that a slight irregularity has cropped up in my pattern of 'downhill from 2002 onwards'. It is, for me, still nowhere near 'TOTBL' but sits somewhere between 'Antics' and 'Our Love To Admire'-in terms of quality that is. 

I heard 'Lights' a while back when it was released online and thought it was pretty good then. It sits nicely in the middle of the album and doesn't stand out excessively, although is a highlight. 'Barricade', the first single, is another highlight, although still fails to get you pumping in the way that tracks from 'TOTBL' and "Antics' would.

As a band, they stay very much in their own comfort zone, there is very little variety....yet it works for them. They sell records and have a strong fan base, but it's one that is unlikely to fluctuate with this very safe record. Nobody will be offended and nobody who didn't notice them from their first 3 albums will be impressed. 

I've read some mixed reviews of the album and I have to say that I'm somewhere in the middle of all of them. There's glimmers of promise in a few of the tracks, and the band sound convincing throughout...however it just isn't in the same league as their earlier records, and with the departure of Carlos D, it's going to take something big to progress from here.