INTERPOL

Man oh man, let me tell you this: Interpol are the best, THE BEST, Joy Division tribute band since Placebo. High praise indeed! At this juncture you are inevitably going to ask whether I'm being sarcastic. You might be surprised to learn, however, that the short answer is "no". Like Black Rebel Motorcycle Club Interpol hail from the States (New York - where else?) but are paradoxically obsessed with British bands from the eighties that were singularly ignored State-side during their existence. Whereas, for BRMC the late-eighties brooding fuzz-rock of the likes of Jesus and Mary Chain are pinpointed as primary influences, Interpol are more concerned with the latter's immediate influences - Joy Division and the Smiths (and maybe a bit of Cure). Now, this is a very good album (the clue is in the rating), although definitely not as good as BRMC's superb debut, and I don't altogether mind the music media's enthusiastic praise (they're better than the Polyphonic Spree, that's for sure). However, what Interpol are doing now is really not that much different from what Placebo did eight years earlier (albeit, without the Bowie-influenced vocals). Furthermore, let it not be forgotten that Placebo's debut album is actually rather good and certainly not much worse than this contemporary offering. Of course, there are differences - there is less of a Cure influence (Q. what do you call a fake cure? A. a placebo. Q. clever, eh? A. no, not really) and Interpol sound much more self-consciously angular and even sterile (as in emotionally detached) - but both are still, in essence, a bunch of Joy Division fan-boys. I don't like it when people (mostly critics) try and impose their favourite bands on contemporary groups (cf. Television and the Strokes) but you really cannot get away from JD on here. Peter Hook's bass style is the most obvious resemblance but the angular guitars often nod their head to Bernard Sumner. Furthermore, the vocalist, Paul Banks, also sings in a detached and unemotional manner, very much the same style as Ian Curtis, which is where the band go even further than Placebo. I'm loathe to agree with the NME but given the self-important intonation of Banks you would have thought the lyrics would actually be a little bit better. "Her stories are boring and stuff/She's always calling my bluff" ("Obstacle 1") is laughable and, given he is singing it as if it is the most important statement in the world, "friends don't waste wine when there's words to sell" ("Obstacle 2") is sheer nonsense. Still, as long as we ignore the fact that the lyrics and vocal delivery are a complete mismatch, the songs themselves are good enough to stand up on their own merit. If you ask me, the clear stand-out on the album is the driving "Obstacle 1" which successfully manages to blend the sterile dynamics of Joy Division with the aggressive pop of the Smiths. If you ask everyone else, however, they will tell you that the low-key, "mellow" "NYC" is the stand-out track. In truth it is a cracking song and the only slow, meandering track that actually goes somewhere - "Hands Away" and "Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down" drift along like the Marie Celeste (with only a rare sign of life on the latter). The more enjoyable numbers, and the main source of success on the album, are the aggressive rock songs, usually driven along by vicious one-note guitar melodies. The likes of "PDA", "Roland" and the excellent "Say Hello to the Angels" (released as a single) continue the form of the likes of the Smiths' "Handsome Devil" and "These Things Take Time". I've also picked out "The New" as the only song that bridges a gap between the two types of song - starting out slow and thoughtful before moving up a gear with some of their patented angular guitar work. As a whole, I'd say there is definite promise of further development in evidence but the band perhaps do need to look beyond their gothic favourites if they are to successfully broaden their sound. They should also note the decline of Placebo as a pertinent warning sign. Still, even if they do fail there will always be the opportunity of going full-time as a proper Joy Division tribute band.

Second album syndrome is a common cliche and, of all the new garage rock bands, Interpol at least passed the first test by compelling me enough to shell out for release number two. As of yet, no band has really managed to either cement any new movement or, conversely, show it to already be a thing of the past with a daring new step. There have been a lot of great debuts released over the past few years but no band has yet to deliver upon us either a Nevermind or, more optimistically, a London Calling. Great though the follow-ups by the Strokes and Libertines were, they hardly clear the waters sufficiently to show us exactly where it is all heading. Unfortunately, Interpol provide no further assistance. Antics is the album I imagine we all pretty much expected. As is the way, the band sound much more confident with a successful debut under their belts and swagger their way through songs, be them pulsating rockers or reflective gothic ballads. Unfortunately, though - and they are hardly the first to be accused of this - the dynamics of their second album pretty much follow the blueprint of the first. I am not the sort to hanker after picking out re-writes or rip-offs but even the two classics on the album (the two singles) "Evil" and "Slow Hands" all-too-easily bring to mind "Obstacle 1" and "PDA" respectively from the first album. They improve on them, of course, but if they didn't then we would have serious problems. As it is, you can often have your head turned from the stain of stagnation by the glamour of confidence and bravado. If songs are played like they are the best songs in the world you can often be fooled into forgetting the fact that they are, actually, not. In fairness, the consistency of this album also represents an improvement over the debut, with less morbid dirges rambling on into nowhere in particular. Furthermore, the obvious confidence in their own ability and direction means they succeed on here in sounding more like their own band, rather than the aforementioned Joy Division tribute act. The industrial atmospherics of "Not Even Jail" do bring to mind the post-apocalyptic stride of JD's "Atmosphere" but you quickly come to concentrate on what the band are doing a quarter of a century on. Given the similarity in templates with the debut, though, the same faults arise, in particular the one-paced nature of too many songs. The band sound more impressive when blasting through the hi-octane "Slow Hands" and "C'Mere", rather than meandering through "Narc" or "Length of Love". The gradual, ominous dynamics of "Evil" and "Take You on a Cruise" are also highlights but you can't help but feel the band get lost in the arrangements at times, and Banks' atonal delivery means melody is invariably a struggle. That said, of course, an album of high paced rockers may be equally as flawed for its lack of diversity so I can't pretend to know the answers. I do know, though, that if Interpol wanted to really emerge above the competitors they failed to grasp such an opportunity with this album. It is another neat little rock'n'roll album, of course, and much like their debut in that respect. That, however, is the bloody problem.

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Email me at: jackfeeny@yahoo.co.uk