6.28.2007

Interpol : Thoughts on "Our Love To Admire"

First thing's first...the new Interpol music video for their single, "The Heinrich Maneuver," is boring. If anything, the last moment may elicit a smirk, but overall - c'mon Banks. On the other hand, the feature story about their long and overdue build-up in the current issue of New York magazine? Ace.



My thoughts are still up in the air on the album. I do believe "Rest My Chemistry" is the best on the record, and opening with "Pioneer To The Falls" was a good choice for Our Love. My fears rest with the fact that a band of this nature just doesn't exist anymore - the New York Band. The Strokes have seen their peak, as have the other garage-y bands that exploded somewhere between 9/11 and the explosion of art-rock parade that placed Yeah Yeah Yeahs at the front an entire year after Fever To Tell came out.

In late 2002, I saw Interpol at the Bowery Ballroom. It was a sold-out show and the rest of the country still didn't care much for the band. I went alone, and I still really enjoyed myself despite the odd crowd that was there. Listening to the tracks on Our Love To Admire, I wonder: what will these songs sound like live? Listen, and imagine it - you're at a show on their latest tour, and "No I In Threesome" is playing. You're with a friend. You're probably drunk, swaying quietly in place while Paul Banks sings about the sweet breath of time.

Is it really that incredible? Something about this record just doesn't do it for me. It feels the band has become skilled at crafting songs, producing them to sound just as their chemistry warrants when they're mixing ingredients at practice. What's missing then? For me, the bias of Joy Division love may be holding me back. I hold Interpol's debut LP, Turn On The Bright Lights, on such a high pedestal that while I'm open to them changing, I want that same river of emotion to come pouring through. So far, the only place I see it - other than the epic and self-disciplined "Rest My Chemistry" - is the honest and simple beauty of "Wrecking Ball."

Also...let's not forget that I may completely eat these words in a few weeks time...

Audible: Interpol - "Wrecking Ball"
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/interpol

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