BLOGS

Interpol's self-titled fourth album is at best capable and at worst boring. I wanted to love it, because "Rest My Chemistry" is one of my favorite songs ever of all time, and you never want to be disappointed by something when it's already raised the bar to those highest of heights. Being especially pleased with "Barricade," one of the new album's first singles, I was prepared to discover a "Rest My Chemistry" v2.0 within the disc. Maybe nothing better, but something at least comparable. Didn't happen.

Yes, Daniel Kessler can recreate those Ennio Morricone-meets-Dick Dale licks like nobody's business and Sam Fogarino pounds out some sweet beats to go along. Unfortunately, they're doing it on a tracklist of songs that go absolutely nowhere. They'd work well on a soundtrack, as ambience for a scene, but fail independently. It's actually defeating to listen through the entirety of "Lights" and realize that's all there was. There's no apex, there's hardly any movement at all. All five minutes, you wait, all edge-of-your-seat-like, for something to happen, yet nothing ... ever ..... does. This describes several songs on "Interpol."

It's almost tragic. It's not even bad music, but it's just terrible for these particular parameters. Actively listening to a song is like actively doing anything else; there need to be varying dynamics, just as there are in a book, movie or video game. In "Mario Bros," you don't just run straight across each level effortlessly — you have to squash Goombas, toss Koopas and tackle other obstacles before you can reach each flagpole. A song should exhibit at least some similar ups and downs if it is to be memorable, let alone cherished.

As I said, "Barricade" is certainly a stand-out track. Paul Banks yells out a strong chorus backed up by the staunch bass brooding of Carlos Dengler (who left the band following production of this album) and Kessler and Fogarino contribute their parts ardently. While there isn't a lot of this satisfying intensity on the record, it's nearly matched on "Memory Serves" and "Summer Well." Aside from "Lights," in fact, the first half of the album would make a fairly decent EP, while the final five songs would have just as well been scrapped. "Safe Without" and "Try It On" show potential, but both come across sounding incomplete, like they were thrown together as-is in the midst of creation. I have a slight feeling this may not be far off from what actually happened.

Every band that puts out an inarguably solid first album is bound to elicit high expectations, and bound to break a few hearts because of it. Even the most amazing musicians cannot be amazing all the time. Yet, I still found my expectations surpassed by one song (ONE SONG!) that appeared on their last album (which was entirely just okay). Every so often, greatness can happen. But there can only be one magnum opus, and (fortunately) for Interpol, "Interpol" is not it. It's likely the folks who say it's already occurred are correct, but you never know; if we've learned anything from this, surprises can happen.

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