Beyond that we can sort of isolate two skills in music-making: there's the skill of advancement and aesthetic creation and such, and there's the thrill of good content, good conception and execution of something that's neither hugely derivative nor pathbreaking. Interpol are really good at the latter, which is why it's sort of a shame to play the spot-the-similarities game with them: everything good about them is wrapped up in the movement of the songs, which are incredibly solidly constructed.
Someone on one of the other threads was talking about the phrasing of a line in "NYC" -- "the city is a porno" -- and noted that little tricks and slips of unexpected delivery are all over this record. That's absolutely true, although I'm not sure how I would tell you about it: you probably just have to hear moments like (a) the bit of "Obstacle 1" where they launch into full-on drama queen rock but the line he's so desperately singing is "her stories are boring and stuff," or (b) later on in the "Stella" song where he mashes up syllables and repeats "Stell-la, Stell-lah-ha."
What they do well is sounding completely exasperated -- not so much mopey-miserablist but pissy and frustrated but not giving a shit either way, perfectly willing to whine and then deflate their own whining as if it didn't matter in the first place. Also, like the Strokes album, it's a part of that re-emerging concept of the rock album as a solid album, something where every song should be as tight as a single, rather than stretching out into all sorts of interludes and experiments. (That's not an inherently better form but it's far better for Interpol.)
― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 27 August 2002 13:50 (twenty-one years ago) link
You're not alone. It's weird -- I know I can just go to the Matador site and download at least one song or so, but I can't be bothered! I'd rather just get the album straight up. :-)
Ned - can you point me towards this 'Chams list'? (I'll never be able to actually see it, of course hahaha - SLAP ouch)
You frighten me. Anyway, yes, drop me a line and I'll send ya the info. It's low key but spirited (and there's much talk about the upcoming American tour, yay).
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 27 August 2002 14:00 (twenty-one years ago) link
― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 27 August 2002 15:16 (twenty-one years ago) link
― nabisco (nabisco), Tuesday, 27 August 2002 15:18 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Chris V. (Chris V), Tuesday, 27 August 2002 15:31 (twenty-one years ago) link
― boxcubed (boxcubed), Tuesday, 27 August 2002 16:42 (twenty-one years ago) link
― OleM (OleM), Tuesday, 27 August 2002 19:55 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Andy K (Andy K), Tuesday, 27 August 2002 20:23 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 27 August 2002 20:26 (twenty-one years ago) link
― nabisco (nabisco), Wednesday, 28 August 2002 13:45 (twenty-one years ago) link
― lyra (lyra), Wednesday, 28 August 2002 22:58 (twenty-one years ago) link
― donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 24 September 2002 21:37 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Wednesday, 25 September 2002 01:48 (twenty-one years ago) link
― hstencil, Wednesday, 25 September 2002 01:49 (twenty-one years ago) link
― donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 25 September 2002 03:02 (twenty-one years ago) link
― Nate Patrin, Wednesday, 25 September 2002 03:25 (twenty-one years ago) link
still stands up.
― pisces, Tuesday, 8 April 2008 07:57 (sixteen years ago) link
First album, yes. Anything that came afterwards is poop.
― Johnny Fever, Tuesday, 8 April 2008 08:34 (sixteen years ago) link
I like the other two albums too, but this is their best, no question.
― zeus, Tuesday, 8 April 2008 09:53 (sixteen years ago) link
the fukd id ep is their pinnacle
― electricsound, Tuesday, 8 April 2008 11:28 (sixteen years ago) link
Not so long ago I listened to this album for the first time in, what, three or four years? Shocked at how much is still ***LOVE*** it.
― RabiesAngentleman, Tuesday, 8 April 2008 11:58 (sixteen years ago) link
Paul's delivery at :52
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGcm8M4DcQc
― flappy bird, Friday, 23 June 2017 05:25 (six years ago) link