I’ve liked Interpol for quite a while.  My introduction to them was a co worker who heard I was in a Joy Division tribute band and that I was hoping to develop it into an original band.  He was worried that I was going to make them into a Joy Division clone (which,  if you even remotely know me, would be against my nature).  He told me of a band that was a Joy Division clone . . . Interpol.  When I listened to them I totally disagreed.  You could hear the influence but . . . a clone?  Get real.  I asked if he had ever heard Red Lorry Yellow Lorry’s “Talk About the Weather.”  He had not.  That would be closer than Interpol (especially “Hollow Eyes”).  Paul’s vocals have similar phrasing but are too high.  Sam is very different drummer from Steven. (Although I do find it hilarious that Peter Hook offered to audition for Carlos D’s spot!)

But all this is material for another entry . . . the fact of the matter remains that I grew to like the band very much.  I was very dismayed that Carlos D had left the band.  Just as disheartening, was that when I saw them with the new bass and keyboard player they were good but seemed tired.  It was like they were just going through the motions.  Their bass player actually looked terrified throughout the performance.  Why? I don’t know.   It was the middle of the tour.  Whatever the case, he did indeed seem, at the very least, uncomfortable.

Then I saw the video for “All the Rage Back Home.”  The video seemed visually at first like Joy Division trying to make a surfing instructional film, but in an off hand way  . . . it somehow worked.  The music, however, was fantastic.  I still believe it’s one of their best songs.  They seemed to be trying new things (the ‘heyhey heyhey” backing vox with the funky percussion underscoring it, mainly).  At this point I thought there was hope. Alan Moulder (engineer on this and the previous album) seemed less compression happy on the vox.  I thought that the compression on their previous album made Paul Banks sound too much like Roy Wood ( which is good for Roy Wood/Move/Wizzard but not for Interpol).  Then I heard El Pintor . . .

At first the album bored me to tears and I put it aside for quite a while.  Recently, I picked it up again and revised my opinion.  Originally, I saw the album as Interpol plays a salute to Interpol with different lyrics.  It still kind of sounds “been there, done that.”  But what the hell do you expect?  They lost a big part of the band.  You have to continue, don’t you?  It’s not easy to make a great original album every time especially when you have the expectations of your fans and the record company to deal with.  I’m sure it felt like the whole world was up on their shoulders and was falling in on them (terrible play on the lyric, I know . . . but you get the point).  I felt like this was an album borne of panic.  “What do we do?  What do we do?”  I mean why would you build entire songs around a riff repeated over and over with slight variation.  That motif drove me nuts (especially “Same Town New Story”).  This idea was done on no less than three songs.    The thing is that if you can get past the repetition and rehashing of their sound, there are some treasures.

Firstly, the bass playing is not Carlos D but it is solid, consistent and appropriate.  In fact, it’s quite good!  (From what I understand it is none other than Paul Banks himself playing the bass throughout the album).  On a couple of tracks you can hear an underlying disco beat which buoys up the sound.  They still sound like a band.  The sound is great.  Still . . . I find myself underwhelmed and it may because I’m familiar with their other albums.

I don’t understand why some bands insist on printing their lyrics when they don’t stand up on their own.   Some lyrics are only good in the context of the music.  When the lyrics are idiosyncratic juxtapositions that mean nothing except to the writer and only the sound gives them meaning.  Printing lyrics seems like you’re trying to make them into something they’re not.  “Ancient Ways” is a good example.  The lyrics are so awkward that the f-word seems like only a prop. I’m sorry but that song seems to me as lyric writing at its laziest.  I’m sure Paul would adamantly disagree . . .  but, oh well . . . .

After this impression, imagine my surprise when I heard them talk about the making of the album!  They said the songs started as riffs from Daniel with Paul inventing basslines to them.  They said that after that the album fell into place and they were surprised at how good the album felt.  They were also surprised at how quickly the album was written and recorded.  To me the album was collection of good ideas slapped together and glued by old ideas and/or repetitive riffs (particularly “My Desire” and “Same Town New Story”).

I know it’s easy to sit back and criticize when it’s not up to me to make it.  After all, how many albums did I sell?  Once again, it’s not a competition.  As a fan, I found the album disappointing.  I also look at it as a stepping stone to them, hopefully, developing as a band without Carlos D.  It’s not easy.  The album is not without promise and I hope they don’t collapse.  In my opinion, they are capable of so much more.  But, I repeat, it’s not easy.  I look forward to see what’s next . . .