I'm sure Kris S. agrees with you, beyond that...
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 26 August 2002 01:10 (twenty-one years ago) link
seriously though, who wants to leg wrestle for the strokes' honor?
― boxcubed (boxcubed), Monday, 26 August 2002 01:35 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Chris V. (Chris V), Monday, 26 August 2002 10:55 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Tom (Groke), Monday, 26 August 2002 10:59 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 26 August 2002 15:31 (twenty-one years ago) link
Strokes release the Modern Age EP. Excellent, excellent release. The best thing they've done/will ever do. Album is a letdown.
Interpol release the self titled EP on Matador. Excellent, excellent release. Album is a letdown.
― Yancey (ystrickler), Monday, 26 August 2002 15:59 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 26 August 2002 16:10 (twenty-one years ago) link
― sj (sinner), Monday, 26 August 2002 16:35 (twenty-one years ago) link
my ears desperately want to hear them as "nothing is a form of change in my life" but somehow i know i'm wrong.
correct me pls...
― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 26 August 2002 21:08 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Sean Carruthers (SeanC), Monday, 26 August 2002 21:55 (twenty-one years ago) link
I met my friend John at Katz's Delicatessen on Ludlow & East Houston (whereI once attended a "pastrami toss" to celebrate Cop Shoot Cop's major labelsigning....seems like a thousand ice ages ago). After a highly ill-advisedmeal of corned-beef & knishes, we sauntered over to the Bowery Ballroom.John, unlike some of my other friends, quite enjoys getting to venues *VERYEARLY* so as to maximize his entertainment-per-dollar expenditure. Fine withme, as I'm just paranoid and maladjusted enough to always worry aboutgetting to events *LATE*. It works out well.
First up were a band called The Stills. Let's put it this way: today'sStills are tomorrow's Dishwalla. Despite the absence of anything resemblingpersonality or creative innovation, the Stills -- who cop the same VISUALaesthetic as the Strokes with maybe just touch of Blur -- will invariably besigned by some hungry label looking for their piece of the "New New YorkScene" pie. They'll probably crank out a perfectly bland single, allowingjadesters like m'self to say "I actually saw them open for someone way backin 2002,...and boy were they dull!" After a fleeting taste of success, invery short order, they'll go the same way as, say, Vertical Horizon, SevenMary Three, Marcy Playground, Better Than Ezra, 3 Doors Down, the GinBlossoms, Semisonic, Fastball, Lifehouse, Train, the Verve Pipe, SisterHazel, Tonic, etc. etc. etc. ad nauseum.
In short, they're so NOT promising that John and I were swiftly drivendownstairs to the bar, where we remained until the opening strains of thenext band reverberated through the room.
Next up, the very poorly-named Secret Machines. Despite their crap moniker,the Secret Machines are an entirely different breed of cat than the Stills.With no stagelighting save for three blinding floodlights behind them, theband is a trio of very hairy young men who play very loudly, albeit withvery stark instrumentation. They're comprised of a drummer who was clearlyraised on a steady audio diet of "When the Levee Breaks," a guitar playerwho mostly plays reverb-heavy bar chords, and a third gent who splits histime between vocals, electric piano and what looked like a six-string bass.The vocalist sings with some surprising passion, augmented by somecompletely unexpected harmonies, courtesy of the guitarist. There areactually some melodies at work here, under all the din (let alone retinaldamage, thanks to those floodlights). I was intrigued enough to spring theten bucks for their CD that they were hawking downstairs which -- surprise,surprise -- ends up sounding nothing like the band I saw, substractingnine-tenths of the sheer brute force of the band's live presentation. Notterrible otherwise, though. The electric piano is a very novel touch forthis type of schtick, I thought. The band closed with a frenzied, highvolume rave-up ala the outro of "Helter Skelter" and exited the stagewithout the slightest word to the audience. Noisy Hirsute Austerity.Cooooool, man!
By this point, the Bowery Ballroom has filled up to capacity. I wasexpecting a highly style-conscious contingent of the fabled"electroclash"/Williamsburg neo-new-wave-disco-rock crowd (you know what Imean: irony overload and retro-kitsch galore). While there was a bit ofthose sorta shenanigans going on, it was largely a surprisingly mixed-bagand "normal" looking crowd. I once again made the mistake of assuming thatthe kid standing next to John and I in the EXODUS t-shirt must be an Exodusfan, but when quizzed on the subject, he confessed to the retro-hip virus,which I found rather sad. Don't fly the colours if ya haven't done thegroundwork first, dammit!
Not sure what time it was when Interpol finally came on, but by this pointit was as packed a house as I'd ever seen the Bowery Ballroom get. Given theamount of hype currently surrounding the band -- coupled with the fact thatthis was a hometown gig for them -- that shouldn't have been so surprising,but I was still pretty shocked. I think many in attendance were there out ofsheer curiosity, though.
Before I launch into it, I'd like to preface the rest of my review by sayingI quite enjoy Interpol's album, which made the experience all the moredifficult.
I'd already composed a lengthy laundry list of cutting little remarks andnasty jibes on my way home last night (after some "condolence beers" at MaxFish, a bar I feel way too old to be in these days), but those comments allseem so petty and needlessly critical this morning. Put plainly, Interpolare very lucky lads to have garnered the respectable press and crediblepraise they're currently enjoying, as they're only a few precariousbaby-steps away from being a forgettable joke band like Orgy or Deadsy (twolaughable bands that happily accept their shameless retrofetish fixations).That they've managed to somehow come across as "a band to watch" (as opposedto "a band to ignore, unless you're thirteen years old") is impressive, butit could all come collapsing like a house of cards. Despite STRENUOUSLYdenying certain key influences that the press automatically cite in reviews(i.e. Joy Division, the Smiths, etc.), onstage Interpol wear theirinfluences on their sleeve. On a purely visual level, the band is completelylacking in any real stage prescence. The only real movement onstage comescourtesy of the bass player, but more about him in a second. I'm not sayingthat every band has to be like Kiss or Iggy Pop and jump around like a bunchof gibbons on crack, but Interpol just aren't much to watch. That's okay,though, as neither are a lot of other perfectly respectable bands. At theend of the day, they're still a new(ish) band and large-scale exposure hascome quickly -- maybe they're still adjusting.
Musically, Interpol fared pretty reasonably, faithfully recreating the album(not in exact sequence, mercifully). Daniel Kessler's guitar really definesthe sound -- however monochromatic it all turns out. Coupled with PaulBanks' mannered, adenoidal vocals, it's virtually *IMPOSSIBLE* not to play'spot the reference' with their sound, as sonic allusions to the Smiths, theChameleons, the Cure, Public Image Ltd and -- of course -- Joy Divisionabound. But, once again, they do it well, at least. It's how they present itthat's problematic.
From their stridently po-faced stance through their wardrobe (some oddmiddle ground between Preppy, Mortician and Hitler Youth....again, onlyslightly less silly than Deadsy), Interpol appear to take themselves *VERY*seriously, and therein lies my biggest beef with them. Without a noticeablesense of humour, it's harder to forgive them their otherwise blatantappropriations. Maybe they have a hard time expressing it, or maybe I'm justnot noticing it. I don't know, but it's just not there.
What am I forgetting?! Oh yeah -- the bass player. How to improve Interpolin ONE EASY STEP: Fire Carlos Dengler, the bass player. For every argumentthe band makes against being a retro-pastiche pantomime act, their bassplayer undermines it all. Looking like a refugee from an age he couldn'tpossibly have been old enough to experience first hand, Dengler's obstinateadherence to "New Wave fashion" of the most cartoony variety (think of that"Quincy" episode featuring "punks" or pre-puberty Sarah Jessica Parker'sfriends on "Square Pegs") almost single-handedly prevents Interpol frombeing taken as seriously as they clearly take themselves. With his floppyTeutonic fringe, red satin shirt, skinny black tie and :::ugh!:: blackarm-band, Dengler clearly belongs in Deadsy....or Orgy...or Menswe@r....or avery-sad-indeed Christian Death cover band that was locked in someone'sbasement in 1985. Couple said sartorial flourish with the predictablelow-slung bass ala Sid Vicious/Peter Hook/Simon Gallup, and Denglerofficially becomes the weakest link. Goodbye.
So, anyway, that's pretty much it. Despite all my misgivings, the band'sperformance of "PDA" at the end of the set was still a great moment, as it'ssimply a great song. The band *ARE* indeed capable ofdelivering the goods, but they really need to either hone or ditch entirelythe schtick their currently pushing. Failing that, they will CONTINUE tosuffer jokers in the crowd yelling out "How Soon Is Now?" and "Transmission"at them during their shows.
Interpol -- inheritors of the Black Crowes/Rancid trophy? Sadly, `tis true.
― Alex in NYC, Wednesday, 4 September 2002 20:06 (twenty-one years ago) link
Yes. New wave, not punk -- totally different head, man.
― Johnny Slash (Andy K), Wednesday, 4 September 2002 21:11 (twenty-one years ago) link
nb i was at the show and i really enjoyed it.
― maura (maura), Friday, 6 September 2002 18:22 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Alex in NYC, Friday, 6 September 2002 20:57 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Justin, Friday, 6 September 2002 21:30 (twenty-one years ago) link
I was right!!
― Tom (Groke), Saturday, 7 September 2002 09:20 (twenty-one years ago) link
New York Cares New York Cares New York Cares New York Cares
subway she is a porno and the pavements they are a messi know you've supported me for a long timesomehow i'm not impressed
It's up to me now turn on the bright lightsIt's up to me now turn on the bright lights
New York CaresNew York CaresNew York Cares New York Cares
It's up to me now turn on the bright lightsoh, It's up to me now turn on the bright lights
― Chris V. (Chris V), Monday, 9 September 2002 16:45 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Chris V. (Chris V), Monday, 9 September 2002 16:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 9 September 2002 18:15 (twenty-one years ago) link
― g.cannon (gcannon), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 13:29 (twenty-one years ago) link
Right on.
― Andy K (Andy K), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 13:43 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Andy K (Andy K), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 13:57 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Aaron, Tuesday, 8 October 2002 14:06 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Arthur (Arthur), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 14:09 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 14:12 (twenty-one years ago) link
I almost used "move into my assface" as the quote instead of the 100 undergrads, btw.
― g.cannon (gcannon), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 14:18 (twenty-one years ago) link
― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 15:32 (twenty-one years ago) link
― dave225 (Dave225), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 15:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
Album title of the year, if someone could get around to it. It'd be Dave Q's rural concept disc.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 8 October 2002 15:50 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Jody Beth Rosen, Tuesday, 8 October 2002 15:56 (twenty-one years ago) link
(crumbs, I'm saying nice things about Placebo in public...hmmm)
Anyway, I'm loving TOTBL hugely right now - makes me wish I had Today Forever to hand, and this lunchtime I'm *definitely* buying Songs To Learn & Sing cos I realised I don't actually *own* any Bunnymen and it's only 15 bucks.
And J** D*******? Not at all! Really, I don't get it.
― Charlie (Charlie), Thursday, 9 January 2003 23:56 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 10 January 2003 02:09 (twenty-one years ago) link
― mallory bourgeois (painter man), Friday, 10 January 2003 02:19 (twenty-one years ago) link
Also on a brief note, people have been notoriously stupid when it comes to comparisons. On the subject of The Strokes, how maybe times did I read The Rolling Stones or The Kinks while flipping through various publications? People are absolutely rancid when it comes to these things.
― mallory bourgeois (painter man), Friday, 10 January 2003 02:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Stephen Stockwell (Stephen Stockwell), Monday, 10 January 2005 11:53 (nineteen years ago) link
― Stephen Stockwell (Stephen Stockwell), Monday, 10 January 2005 11:54 (nineteen years ago) link
new one's nice
― StanM, Friday, 22 June 2007 08:43 (sixteen years ago) link
new Editors is better though :(
― StanM, Friday, 22 June 2007 09:52 (sixteen years ago) link
new National is best
― baaderonixx, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:12 (sixteen years ago) link
lol Interpol still exists
― marmotwolof, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:16 (sixteen years ago) link
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/06/21/arts/21.interpol.span.jpg
lol @ yesterday's ny times.
― hstencil, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:18 (sixteen years ago) link
Far left: Bob "Hardcore" Holly, far right: Ornaldo "Orlando" Bloomps
― Michael Philip Philip Philip philip Annoyman, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:21 (sixteen years ago) link
so like when did they replace the singer guy with Jodie Foster
― marmotwolof, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:22 (sixteen years ago) link
second one's like a young David Eugene Edwards
― StanM, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:24 (sixteen years ago) link
er... with, like, a different head and face and hair. (ok, I was wrong)
― StanM, Friday, 22 June 2007 10:27 (sixteen years ago) link
Second from right is ER's Noah Wyle with a beard...
― Iain Macdonald, Friday, 22 June 2007 12:34 (sixteen years ago) link
The new album is really growing on me - I saw them at the Rock Werchter festival this weekend, wasn't going to stay for their whole show, but I did in the end, so I guess I liked them.
― StanM, Friday, 6 July 2007 09:14 (sixteen years ago) link
the new album is sitting on 92 on metacritic after 5 reviews
bloody hell
(they obviously weight Playlouder reviews much higher than OMM, which is a surprise, and Amazon.com, which is not)
― bakerstreetsaxsolo, Friday, 6 July 2007 14:31 (sixteen years ago) link
"Lighthouse" is such a pathetic example of "atmosphere."
― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 6 July 2007 14:33 (sixteen years ago) link
In NYMag, Paul Banks described the late night PATH train as "amateur hour for alcoholics," which is a nice, succinct, accurate description, so I give him some credit.
― Hurting 2, Friday, 6 July 2007 15:05 (sixteen years ago) link
Paul Banks' singing is the least interesting thing about Interpol.
― The Hauntology of Celebrity (Branwell with an N), Tuesday, 2 June 2015 17:14 (eight years ago) link
what about his body?
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 2 June 2015 17:17 (eight years ago) link
i like banks' voice. he reminds me more of gord downie than anyone
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Tuesday, 2 June 2015 17:24 (eight years ago) link
also i think i could isolate my favorite parts of certain interpol songs to his voice. "enough with this fucking incense" from "mammoth," for instance
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Tuesday, 2 June 2015 17:35 (eight years ago) link
branwell, you don't like PB's singing or Carlos' basslines - what's left?
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 2 June 2015 17:35 (eight years ago) link
The only interesting thing about Paul Banks' body is wondering if his "silent parts" are as heavily speckled as his face.
― The Hauntology of Celebrity (Branwell with an N), Tuesday, 2 June 2015 17:36 (eight years ago) link
kessler obv
xpost
― insufficiently familiar with xgau's work to comment intelligently (BradNelson), Tuesday, 2 June 2015 17:38 (eight years ago) link
I've come around on Carlos. (Surprised sometimes?)
But the best thing about Interpol is still the drums. (And the layer-cake approach to reverb.)
― The Hauntology of Celebrity (Branwell with an N), Tuesday, 2 June 2015 17:38 (eight years ago) link
Kessler's body obv.
― The burrito of ennui (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 2 June 2015 17:53 (eight years ago) link
Mostly I'm anticipating Carlos' book... Should be good fun (if he can lay off trying to impress "Millennials" on Tumblr long enough to actually finish it.)
He's playing bass in another band now so I guess it was Interpol he hated, not bass playing.
(His over-treble-y tone is still annoying, but I suppose being "annoying" is his obscure charm.)
― The Hauntology of Celebrity (Branwell with an N), Tuesday, 2 June 2015 18:10 (eight years ago) link
ohh fuck yes
http://pitchfork.com/news/65553-interpols-paul-banks-and-wu-tangs-rza-are-banks-and-steelz/
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 18 May 2016 18:24 (eight years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wr8Su5tPZZI
― flappy bird, Friday, 2 September 2016 17:39 (seven years ago) link
Dud.
― the hair - it's lost its energy (Turrican), Friday, 2 September 2016 17:46 (seven years ago) link
https://66.media.tumblr.com/84ab5cae2f1d3d9497fee75af1b156b3/tumblr_o0tajnqq0V1rvi9cso1_500.jpg
― flappy bird, Friday, 2 September 2016 17:53 (seven years ago) link
I figured this revive would be about the Banks and Steelz record. It's not very good. (The song with Florence is decent.)
― a serious and fascinating fartist (Simon H.), Friday, 2 September 2016 18:44 (seven years ago) link
i just got convinced to go to the Morrissey show next week here in Los Angeles. i can't stand Morrissey because of his hard right politics but doing a favor for a girl and you know sometime in life you need to do that for the better sex. i did love The Smiths and actually was able to see them twice on the Queen Is Dead[ tour and that was amazing. i can't stand him and hope he doesn't go into things at this show.
anyways, the bonus and really the only reason i'm going is because i do get to see Interpol. is Interpol been good live lately? has anyone seen then recently and can tell me i have made a good choice? i have never seen Interpol live before.
― Bee OK, Saturday, 28 September 2019 00:40 (four years ago) link
This song from a new Banks side project is way more promising than anything on the last album.
https://soundcloud.com/user-434202633/muzz-bad-feeling
― bold caucasian eroticism (Simon H.), Friday, 6 March 2020 16:18 (four years ago) link
Has anyone heard The Other Side of Make-Believe yet?
Out today
― Bee OK, Friday, 15 July 2022 21:25 (one year ago) link
They put out a video this week that I didn't love, but I'm still probably gonna give the album at least one listen this weekend.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Friday, 15 July 2022 21:39 (one year ago) link
After one listen, I like it a lot. I think Interpol are perfectly designed for me, because I don't care about lyrics at all and whatsisname sings them in such a just-woke-up-from-an-afternoon-nap-that-was-accidentally-about-20-minutes-too-long way that they're rendered instantly forgettable, but their guitar and drum sounds (production by Flood and Alan Moulder) are really beautiful.
― but also fuck you (unperson), Saturday, 16 July 2022 15:26 (one year ago) link
Shocked and really happy that something like “Toni” exists in this day and age
― calstars, Saturday, 30 July 2022 22:21 (one year ago) link
Paul’s voice sounds pretty weak tho
― calstars, Saturday, 30 July 2022 22:27 (one year ago) link
This is surprisingly good, unperson very much otm, it's all about Kessler's guitar and Fogarino's drums.
― a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 4 August 2022 17:34 (one year ago) link