| Lots of people have had a lot to say about Interpol since their album came out in August, and most of it can be summed up in two words: “Joy Division.” As might be expected, this an an almost entirely specious comparison. There’s the heavy-as-concrete bass, OK; and the production has to it a certain airy feel that recalls Unknown Pleasures a little, though it’s considerably further off from Closer. I’ve read a few comparisons between the voice of Interpol’s lead singer and that of Ian Curtis, but am fairly certain that the people making these comparisons have never actually heard a Joy Division record. Interpol’s whole approach is much more intense than Joy Division’s ever was; as a band, Joy Division were punk boys playing with formalism, heading inevitably toward the transcendental pop structures that became New Order’s stock-in-trade. Interpol, on the other hand, are the Total Formalist Package, and this is what everybody’s actually getting so excited about. |