Interpol: Our Love To Admire

Interpol
Our Love To Admire
Capitol

There’s an old Human Giant comedy sketch in which a particularly pretentious record store clerk talks about the time, “last May,” when he went trick-or-treating with Carlos D from Interpol.

“But Halloween is in October,” a confused customer responds.

“Not when you’re Carlos D,” answers the smirking clerk. “That guy doesn’t play by the rules.”

For an indie rock fan, this scene is both funny and strangely plausible, considering Interpol’s five-year reign as Matador’s most painfully hip Joy Division disciple. That sterling reputation is on the line now, however, with the band’s unholy, major label debut, Our Love to Admire.

As it turns out, any fears of Interpol turning into a disposable, mainstream version of itself (in other words, She Wants Revenge) are unwarranted. However, Our Love to Admire only occasionally matches the infectiousness and scope of the band’s 2001 debut, Turn On the Bright Lights, and mainly dwells on the same so-so plateau as 2004’s Antics.

Opening track “Pioneer to the Falls” is certainly a highlight, chockfull of familiar Interpol ingredients like impending doom, swirling minor chords, and morbid lyricism. “Show me the dirt pile / And I will pray / That the soul can take / Three stowaways.” If you can’t fit all six minutes of that track on a mixtape, go with “Pace Is the Trick,” which is shorter and essentially the same song.

For those looking for new twists, “No 1 In Threesome” offers a sprightlier bass line than Carlos D typically offers, but rest assured, the guy still trick-or-treats whenever the hell he wants.

(Andrew Clayman)


Published in The Metro Pulse, July 2007