TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS -- whatcha reckon?

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc000/c022/c0225240j0f.jpg

http://image.allmusic.com/00/amg/cov200/drc400/c422/c4226570233.jpg

Back to Interpol....are the lyrics really as crap as I suspect?

how on god's green earth do you hear the cure before you hear the smiths on that track?

The opening guitar chords remind me of "London Calling." I also hear the Smiths, and, yes, the Cure ("Lovecats"-era). And, uh, "Lust for Life."

That said, we're getting to the point where someone needs to add "the Interpol album" to the fucking thread categories, because -- not to criticize, Alex, it's not really your fault -- this is like the TENTH thread on it started during the past week and a half.

I begin to wonder if there isn't some intrinsic "You want to think this is like something else" quality to certain music which operates independantly of ACTUAL similarity to anything in particular.

Maybe just cultural, or maybe an artifact of vagueness.

Dammit! What's wrong with you people? ;)

Tain't nothing wrong nohow with Echo. Did yer get that bio that finally got published, Sean? Looks well groovy.

But how do you discuss TOTBL without mentioning a multitude of post-punk acts. It all is so referential. If you'd played it me blind telling me it was some lost early '80s act I'd never heard of I would have been a) impressed and b) none the wiser. I like it, but (as yet) can't quite get that 'reproduction antique' feeling out my head.

Well Tom, it clearly makes us feel like we're listening to a combination of Joy Division, the Smiths, Josef K, the Sound, U2, British Sea Power, the Chameleons, the Cure, Kitches of Distinction, Luna, the Afghan Whigs, Versus, the Strokes, Echo & the Bunnymen, Television, and any other band who has ever listened to a record by any of the aforementioned bands. And their haircuts are weirder than the ones worn by the guys in Big Flame, so throw them in too. As for what the songs are about....? Whatever those bands sang about, I guess. Miasmatic miserablism?

ouch! affected musical cliches producing affected cliched critical response? must try harder.

Ned - can you point me towards this 'Chams list'?
(I'll never be able to actually see it, of course hahaha - SLAP ouch)

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.)

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).

still stands up.

First album, yes. Anything that came afterwards is poop.

I like the other two albums too, but this is their best, no question.

the fukd id ep is their pinnacle

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.

Paul's delivery at :52

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGcm8M4DcQc