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CD review: Interpol ‘Interpol’
‘Interpol’
(Matador)
Grade: C+
“I guess there must come a time when there’s no more tears to cry,” intones singer Paul Banks in that somber, Ian Curtis-has-a-baby-with-Morrissey timbre of his on “Barricade,” the lead single on Interpol’s self-titled fourth album. Between that and the track’s impossibly peppy energy - danceable and thrilling, it might be the best radio single Interpol’s ever recorded - you might expect “Interpol” to be a lean, relatively upbeat record. That is, at least by the standards of Interpol, a band that’s cloaked itself in New York City back alley darkness since their electrifying 2002 debut “Turn on the Bright Lights.”
But “Interpol” finds the band in an odd place. It’s not quite as comfortably expansive and wide-ranging as third album and major-label debut “Our Love to Admire,” which featured Interpol expanding its palette with keys, strings, horns and other touches of stadium rock. But it’s also not quite as dark-and-stark as the 2002 debut, an instant post-punk classic that integrated the spiraling guitars and angst-ridden energy of Joy Division or the Cure. It’s something of an identity crisis, and consequently “Interpol” never quite gets to the grand release it seems like it’s searching for. For every “Barricade” - or “Memory Serves,” a nicely building anthem punctuated by a surprisingly endearing “ooh-la-la-la” chorus - it seems like there’s also at least one “Safe Without,” a track which ambles in search of something interesting.
“Interpol” packs the standard pleasures from the band - Banks’ obtuse, intriguing lyricism and Carlos Denger’s thumping bass - but never quite jells. Album closers “All of the Ways” and “Unloved” - each intricate and reserved, building towards crescendos that never arrive - sum up the problem: Delayed gratification doesn’t work if it never actually materializes at all.
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By jp
September 5, 2010 9:41 PM | Link to this
a bad review from someone who obviously doesn’t know music, much less Interpol. Real music takes more than one listen to gratify a refined sense of taste. Too much work for Mr. Caldwell I can see. The 1st 5 songs on this album are some of the best songs ever created by this band.