Interpol
Turn on the Bright Lights
Matador Records

This is the record any true 'musicologist' would sell his Mama to have made (even if he wont necessarily admit it...). The group comes across as any record store clerk's dream super-band: Ian Curtis on vocals, Johnny Marr on guitar, maybe Keith Moon on drums and that-guy-from the Cure on Keyboard. Their music is clearly derivative (what isn't these days?, but they have the merit of having impeccable taste: 80's influences abound. The singer's booming voice is nicely served by the very bouncy and catchy bass lines, and the guitarist's jangly guitar riffs.

This is where the praise stops, though. Like so many of their peers, Interpol seems trapped by their genre, their style and everything that defines them as a band. I don't believe there is anything wrong with "looking the part", but as a music fan I can't help feeling that all that time spent picking out that nice skinny tie or getting your hair just right could of been put to better use. If Interpol want to survive the curse of the follow-up album, they'll have to learn to focus more on themselves and their writing, and less about the Diktat of their Indie esthetic.

Oh yeah..and all 9/11 sentimentality put aside, "New York Cares" truly is a shit song.

Copyright © 2002 Jesse Hudson