Interpol

Interpol

Written by: TL on 20/12/2010 23:59:57

Some three years ago, our editor PP wrote me with a request: "Dude, we gotta have a review of the new Interpol record, and you're our only current staffer who listens to any kind of indie, so can you please do it?". At the time, I had only dabbled superficially, and only with sporadic excitement, in the indie-rock landscape, and as such I hesitantly wrote off "Our Love To Admire"'s shortcomings as a mere lack of my understanding and appreciation for the genre.

These days, I can't for the life of me remember anything, and I mean anything at all of that album, yet while my indie-rock exploration is still rather selective at best, PP still hit me up again: "Yo Tim - So there's a new Interpol record out, and it seems you're still the most indie-ish of our guys - Can you please write about it?". I'm starting to see a trend here, and I'm not sure I like it.

First things first though - For those who don't know, Interpol are, along with The Strokes, among the bands that made post-punk influences 'popular' during the first years of the new millenium, harvesting massive critical acclaim and more or less defining the sound that fans today associate with the term 'indie-rock'. I can't tell you however, what their acclaimed albums "Turn On The Bright Lights" and "Antics" sound like, because in all honesty, I was barely interested in rock music back when they came out, and given the non-impression made upon me by "Our Love To Admire", I never bothered to go back and check them out.

What I can tell you though (and it's a small amendment, I know), is that Interpol still sound pretty damn indie-rock these days. And by that I mean that their sound is dominated by massively effect-laden guitars, vocals sounding like a depressed and audibly over-dubbed, David Bowie, and a feeling that the band is utterly disinterested in what the listener should think of their music. And that last thing is the key to my - drum-roll - continued non-appreciation for Interpol.

This time around, I guess I can recognize the band's attempt at staging an uncompromising exploration of feelings like depression and melancholia. I can see that being unexcited and unexciting is likely the exact point of this entire shoe-gazing endeavour, and I can suspect that my own personal positive outlook is likely what's getting in the way of me appreciating the artistic project. You can consider that my disclaimer then, and read the following in the light of it: Each time I've heard this new album, I've been looking at my foobar player to see if it was over soon, finding that I was listening to track four out of ten. That's just another way of implying how boring I think Interpol is, and to be quite honest, I don't think it will be three more years before I will forget everything about this disc as well. Even if you like this type of stuff, I would much recommend the bands listed below, as similar ones that are endlessly more engaging.

Download: Barricade
For The Fans Of: Joy Division, The Twilight Sad, The National
Listen: myspace.com/interpol

Release Date 07.09.2010
Matador/Soft Limit Records

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