This was the first record I bought when I realized I was losing touch. I found myself saying all the same bullshit the 30 and 40 somethings said that really pissed me off when I was a teenager and in my twenties. I was automatically writing off bands I'd never heard because they were new and had some degree of indie cool. My bad. I went with Interpol first because I saw them compared to Joy Division - one of my favorite bands. They were a good choice for re-entering the contemporary music landscape after a decade.
The Joy Division comparison is an apt one - Interpol clearly draws a large amount of inspiration from Joy Division, from the jagged and repetitive guitar lines to Paul Banks' vocal similarity to Ian Curtis. This is no bad thing, though, as Interpol are not slavish imitators. The production, on this record at least, set them apart quite distinctly. It's layered approach gives the record a full, ominous sound. It compliments Interpol's musicality very well, and brings to the forefront the abundance of hooks these songs have to offer.
There's not a weak song on this. Standouts are "Mammoth", "All Fired Up", and "The Heinrich Maneuver" though, to be honest, they only barely stand out from the rest. Interpol slings a lot of bile - the anger in these songs is almost visceral. It's to their credit that they manage to convey this through the medium of the hook-laden pop song. Not pop in the Britney Spears sense, of course - Big Star pop, Replacements pop. You get the idea.
This was the first I'd heard of the post-punk revival. As a big fan of original post-punk I think it's really cool that this is going on. Apparently there's a lot of stuff out there for me to check out once I get done looking into Interpol's other releases. It's good to know there are angry young bands out there bucking the trend of cultural decline so evident in other art forms. But then, when you get right down to it, that's what rock 'n' roll has always been about.
Much thanks to Interpol for bringing me in from the cold.
Rating: 4 out of 4
The Joy Division comparison is an apt one - Interpol clearly draws a large amount of inspiration from Joy Division, from the jagged and repetitive guitar lines to Paul Banks' vocal similarity to Ian Curtis. This is no bad thing, though, as Interpol are not slavish imitators. The production, on this record at least, set them apart quite distinctly. It's layered approach gives the record a full, ominous sound. It compliments Interpol's musicality very well, and brings to the forefront the abundance of hooks these songs have to offer.
There's not a weak song on this. Standouts are "Mammoth", "All Fired Up", and "The Heinrich Maneuver" though, to be honest, they only barely stand out from the rest. Interpol slings a lot of bile - the anger in these songs is almost visceral. It's to their credit that they manage to convey this through the medium of the hook-laden pop song. Not pop in the Britney Spears sense, of course - Big Star pop, Replacements pop. You get the idea.
This was the first I'd heard of the post-punk revival. As a big fan of original post-punk I think it's really cool that this is going on. Apparently there's a lot of stuff out there for me to check out once I get done looking into Interpol's other releases. It's good to know there are angry young bands out there bucking the trend of cultural decline so evident in other art forms. But then, when you get right down to it, that's what rock 'n' roll has always been about.
Much thanks to Interpol for bringing me in from the cold.
Rating: 4 out of 4
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