Interpol - Interpol

I have to say, I was never completely on the Interpol bandwagon. Even in that period after Turn On The Bright Lights was released, and they were briefly the coolest thing around, I wasn't really on board. They were an exciting proposition live, and their taut, edgy Joy Division impression was interesting, but it seemed to me it was just that, an impersonation.

Subsequent to their debut album, and the even more successful follow up Antics, I lost touch with Interpol, and completely missed their third album. But on hearing that their self-titled fourth record was to be a return to the sound of their early material, well apart from not knowing they'd ever departed from it, I thought I'd give them another chance to convince me.

High Points

Initial impressions of Interpol the album are of a moody and introverted record, full of bass throb and jangling guitars, and Paul Banks' solemn vocals. So far so familiar then. Opener Success is an archetypal Interpol track, an epic slow-building dirge.

Tracks three/four/five form the real core of the record though, the lighter piano-driven Summer Well, darkly soaring Lights, and the almost Interpol-by-numbers single Barricade, where Banks is once again channelling the spirit of Ian Curtis.

The Verdict

The familiarity of Interpol will obviously be no bad thing for fans of the band. For me though it was like slipping on an old pair of jeans only to find that they didn't quite fit. They never fitted. I like the idea of Interpol, but their records tend to gather dust somewhere at the back of my record collection, rather than getting heavy rotation.

Final Score: 69%