Interpol’s Turn On the Bright Lights basically en capsulizes everything this list is about, a delectably crafted hunk of cheese you can’t help but sneak nibbles of.Let me take you back to around the turn of the century… you know 2000 or so. Interpol were the talk of the town, the darlings of the scene. What wasn’t to love? They lived on the L.E.S., They looked like they should have been in the Bad Seeds, Carlos D spun obscuro post-punk at Barmacy and they “sounded like Joy Division.”* It was a killer combo!

The only hitch is that they sucked balls live! They were boring and had zero stage presence and I totally hated them! I had zero clue why all the music rags were on their nuts and worse was that they were opening for almost every good indie band to come through NYC. I remember being really drunk one night and heckling them relentlessly as they opened for the Faint at Brownies.

Flash forward to 2002 and Interpol gets signed to Matador Records (whom I love), who in turn puts out their debut album at like $6. I said what the fuck and bought it, just so I could have more fuel to fire my hatred. But much to my dismay I found the album kind of engaging and couldn’t stop listening to it. Everything that made them mind numbingly boring live was actually washed away by some really good production which emphasized some pretty strong hooks. And all in all creating a really good carbon copy of late 70s post-punk.

Unfortunately the thing I found most engaging isn’t exactly something that would make any proud! Paul Bank’s lyrics were soooooooo bad that they came full circle into amazing! I couldn’t get enough of them! I would listen to them and go “Did he really just sing that?” My favorite from Obstacle 2:
I feel like love is in the kitchen with a culinary eye
I think he’s making something special
And I’m smart enough to try
It was like someone lifted the diary of some maladjusted horny 16 year old miscreant and set them to music. The fact that these laughable lines were set to such catchy hooks made them all the more better! I found myself with that “culinary eye” and was happily eating it all up!

I eagerly await each new Interpol release to hear more of Paul Bank’s lyrics (i’m quite serious). Thankfully Antics really delivered with more bad lyrics set to syrupy hooks, however Our Love to Admire just wasn’t up to par. The music was flat & boring and because of that, the lyrics could have been amazing and I wouldn’t have cared.

*I never got the whole “they sound like Joy Division” thing. I get that Paul Banks sings in a baritone v like Ian Curtis, so what? Lots of people do that. Singing with a deep voice isn’t what made Joy Division, Joy Division. Yes there was an overall post-punk sound to Interpol just like Joy Division, but again that isn’t what made Joy Division, Joy Division. Thousands of bands worked in that sound. If anything I always thought they sounded like Echo & the Bunnymen or the Psychedelic Furs mixed with some early R.E.M. But what do I know? I like awful albums.