There’s nothing more disappointing than a previously stellar act hurtling headlong into mediocrity. It applies to an endless list of people, with some pretty laughable examples, Liz Phair’s decline into a poor man’s Britney Spears being one of sore thumb proportions. At the end of it, her plummet was just more sheer cringe and embarrassment than slight disappointment…

Interpol aren’t quite as bad, but considering how much I personally adored them, and how much of an indelible mark their first two albums made on the early noughties, you would have to say, the current output, upon an objective stance, is pretty damn crushing… When released, ‘Turn on the Bright Lights’ immediately evoked lazy comparisons of a Joy Division tribute act. But where utter shite like White Lies and Editors did try and make Unknown Pleasures TOTP friendly, Interpol were anything but. A rare album that revealed more and more on every listen, it had a uniquely gloomy atmospheric that was utterly compelling, with each component almost virtuoso in augmenting that. The duelling Rickenbacker and Les Paul guitars, Paul Banks’ idiosyncratic and riddle-y lyrics, Carlos D’s WWII chic and rumbling basslines, and Sam Fogarino’s incredibly innovative, tight and utterly signature(and still criminally underrated) drumming. Together, the sum of the parts was something majestic, and for something that was enigmatic, slightly gothic and mysterious, Turn On The Bright Lights was an unmistakable breath of fresh air that set the precedent for the decade.

Antics followed on superbly by keeping the signature sound, but by adding an almost thinking man’s stadium rock muscle. Sounds like an improbable balance, but thats how good Interpol were becoming, and such going from strength to strength was the only thing they were associated with. And then… success is paralysing. They froze, and brought out the same, but infinitely poorer record (you know what I mean) with ‘Our Love To Admire’ before beginning to slowly fade into almost obscurity, and most certainly, a terminal mediocrity.

When Carlos D left, he took with him much of the character and life of the band, not to mention his curveball basslines which had made the two first albums so utterly distinctive. When I saw them live this summer, it was underwhelming to see them run through the numbers in such robotic fashion (not, I stress, a taciturn coolness) and most symbolically, some male model grappling with a bass doing a wooden impression of Carlos himself. It was definitely a turning point, and one where I finally had to give up on them. Pity really, because I vividly remember championing them relentlessly as one of my favourite’s of all time. They should have quit while they were ahead, you never know what pantheon they could have ended up in…

Alas, there are always a few consolations. For those of you who echo the sentiment of wishing there was more Turn On The Bright Lights/Antics, the above gem is an underrated early release from the TOTBL era, which in its 6 minutes 42 seconds, encompasses everything that was good about them. Most fans will be well aware of ‘Specialist’, but considering its under the radar release at the time, means it will always sound a lot fresher, and have a lot more novelty factor in comparison to the over reliance we may have placed on the first two albums. Give those two records a breather. Give ‘Specialist’ a whirl. God they were good, weren’t they? (Past tense)

1. deaddeaderdead liked this
2. hithere-patbateman reblogged this from felixthephoenix and added:

   I’m glad Interpol didn’t quite while they were ahead. Interpol aren’t a bad, as you pointed out, that yield everything...

3. felixthephoenix reblogged this from eclecticpicnic and added:

   my sentiments exactly!...winning me back though. i choose

4. eclecticpicnic posted this