Oh, if only the members of Interpol were ugly. If only they were just five dudes from the Midwest wearing jeans and T-shirts, instead of suit-clad New Yorkers with carefully sculpted hair. That way, this review could just talk about how awesome their music is, without having to discuss how they fit into the Big Apple’s born-again retro music scene.
But Interpol is from New York, born in the classrooms of NYU, so we must discuss. Interpol’s sound is distinctly different from the other glorified bands that come from their city. The band rocks but not in a garage like the Strokes. They don’t have the choruses and commercial appeal of the Walkmen. And they aren’t spazzy art-punks like Liars or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
They play thickly layered, moody and atmospheric songs marked by jangling guitars and the downbeat voice of Paul Banks. It’s a sound that seems more likely to come from Manchester than Manhattan, and critics have responded by frequently comparing Interpol to post-punk depression pioneers Joy Division–mostly because Banks’s deep vocals sound similar to Joy Division’s late singer Ian Curtis.
The hype machine is warming up for Interpol, whose debut album, Turn On The Bright Lights, was released in August by indie super-label Matador. The band, whose first ever American tour ended in Boston on Monday night, has already shot two videos and has been featured in Spin and in an MTV “You Hear It First” piece.
As they hit the stage for a sold-out show at the Middle East Downstairs, the crowd had to be wondering whether the band itself would buy into their own hype. Luckily, Interpol seemed to lack any notions of pretension; the band was responsive to the crowd and generally seemed to enjoy playing their songs to a packed house.
The show got off to a shaky start as Interpol, awash in violet backlight, seemed to suffer from sound difficulties. The greatness of Bright Lights lies in playing it really, really loud, allowing the guitars to pour over you. But at the start of their set, the instruments’ volume levels were too low, while Paul Banks’s vocal volume was set too high, making him sound like he was trying to sing far below his range.
Things finally came together nicely for “Stella Was A Diver And She Was Always Down.” The crowd cheered when they heard the opening chords, eliciting a smirk from Banks. This could either be because he was pleased that people knew his songs, or because the song is about oral sex. It’s a toss-up.
The Interpol juggernaut chugged along as it tore into “NYC,” a slow-paced love letter to the city that birthed them. The attraction of the song is the wall of sound created by the guitars, and the band hit it just right, creating a noisy anthem.
They finished their set with three up-tempo rockers: “PDA” and then the two-song encore, “Song Seven” (off of their self-released gray EP, it was the only non-album track played) and “Obstacle 2.” Interpol left the crowd pleased, having given a sweaty, emotionally spent performance that proved it’s more than hype.