Oh, those days in the sun

Today’s post is the 400th here at Heartache With Hard Work. I never would have guessed when I started all this two years ago that I would still be going strong now. But it’s been a lot of fun, and it’s really gratifying that so many people have stopped by to read what I’ve got to say.

For today, a record I’ve procrastinated enough for everyone to have already listened to it long ago and formed their own opinion. So I’ll be brief. I’ve never been as big on Interpol as some folks, but conversely I’m also not nearly as down on Our Love to Admire as some.

In my opinion, the biggest problem is the decision to mix the vocals and guitars closer to the top and to downgrade the force of the drums and bass. The thing that drove all of the best Interpol songs has always been the combination of sinister darkness and a churning beat. The lyrics were fascinating not because they revealed meaning, but because they obfuscated it.

This time around, they play a much more prominent role. And while Paul Banks’ brand of sordid-but-opaque lyrics were perfectly suited to the old sound, I’m not sure they’re strong enough to carry most songs. The result is a record with a couple extremely powerful tracks (“Rest My Chemistry” and “No I in Threesome”), a few experimental clunkers (the first and last tracks in particular), and a bunch of other songs not quite strong enough to give the thing the necessary backbone.

Rest My Chemistry – Interpol

The best tracks are notable mostly for their texture. In particular, the grinding beat of “Rest My Chemistry” transforms what could have been a mediocre track into a piece of smothering madness. Given another context the lyrics would be almost laughably bad – all too serious laments of the tribulations of rock stardom tend to make poor material – but when its enveloped in that suffocating sound, his matter of fact tone gives it a sense of strangled ambition that completely alters my perception.

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