Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

nattiep wrote:Great band. The monotone may get a little annoying after a while but the music is excellent.

Wow. Interesting to hear this again, it's been a while. I liked Interpol much more when they first came out a few years ago, but I'm surprised at how badly Interpol's music is aging (for me at least). They just strike me as terribly leaden and derivative -- and dated. I guess they always were a bit derivative (I mean, what isn't, really, apart from truly ground-breaking artists?), but wow, they seem septuagenarians inhabiting the bodies of 20-year-olds (to me).

I agree, they do look like they are in their 20's but the reality is 30's and 40's. Literally and figuratively, they are ageing damn well from my perspective.

Whether it be live or your preferred mode of musical pleasure, they are a class act.

I like Interpol a lot, but after seeing Control, the Ian Curtis biopic, and going back to listen to some of the Joy Division stuff, I can't shake my awareness of how much the Paul Banks' singing resembles Curtis's. But the music is a lot more lush. If you have any appetite for shoegaze, it's hard to beat Interpol.

miltric wrote:I like Interpol a lot, but after seeing Control, the Ian Curtis biopic, and going back to listen to some of the Joy Division stuff, I can't shake my awareness of how much the Paul Banks' singing resembles Curtis's. But the music is a lot more lush. If you have any appetite for shoegaze, it's hard to beat Interpol.

I agree so much. You're preaching to the JD choir here. (FWIW, I think my shoegaze appetite ended pretty much when most everyone else's did -- around 1994 or so?)

I suppose there's much to appreciate in Interpol for many; I was just a little surprised at how hearing it again felt empty and overly self-conscious to me. With Ian Curtis, the lyrics also seem so much more direct and desperate and deeply felt, lacking in the kind of arty irony and hipsterisms of Interpol. I can't ever imagine anyone accusing Interpol of being too emotional. I can't see them writing something like this:

Now that I've realised how it's all gone wrong,
Gotta find some therapy, this treatment takes too long.
Deep in the heart of where sympathy held sway,
Gotta find my destiny, before it gets too late.

That just READS as real desperation to me. I suppose I'm just another JD fan comparing apples to oranges. The fact is, Interpol is paying homage to one of the greatest bands of all time, and I should just shut up and be happy for it.

I'm a big Joy Division fan myself too. I was never bothered that Paul sings quite like Ian Curtis.
In the early concerts of Interpol you can hear Paul singing out of tune a lot and his singing seemed much more higher vibed to me.
For some reason I really liked the out of tune singing in these shows, now it's all very polished.
Didn't like so much their latest album neither. But I listened Turn on The Bright Lights and Antics like crazy.



About the voice of Ian, reminds me of a quote in a documentary of Joy Division, someone told Ian to " Sing Like Sinatra".

It actually works quite well!

I really like early interpol stuff and they were clearly influenced by Joy Division. That said, I'd suggest the Chamleons (UK) are even more present in their songs, once you get by the Paul Banks wants to be Ian Curtis thing. There's a lot of Television, too.

It was nice to see them gain some respect, though, as the first two records are really good and interesting (the third: boring n stuff).

I'm pretty sure the following are in their record collections, too (and are all highly recommended):
The Sound
Comsat Angels
Sad Lovers & Giants
etc.

cestlamort wrote:That said, I'd suggest the Chamleons (UK) are even more present in their songs ...

yeah, yer right, I forgot about that. Totally.

Have you guys heard of the solo album of Paul Banks?

Julian Plenti Is...Skyscraper?

Sure have. It's pretty dark as well but there are some nice acoustic moments too.

Their new record came out today. I like it a lot. First half sounds like classic Interpol and the second half has a lot of keyboards to it. Still really good though.