INTERPOL play the Kool Haus November 18. See listing. Rating: NNN
Each song on Interpol’s El Pintor – their comeback album after a four-year break and their first without bassist Carlos Dengler – is what we’ve come to expect from the New Yorker indie rockers: post-punk goth drama, intricate bass lines, rigid drums that keep it all in check.
On opening track All The Rage Back Home, singer Paul Banks (who’s also taken over bass duties) moans his signature monotone drawl before erupting with energy the likes of which we haven’t experienced since their sophomore album, Antics. On Same Town, New Story, it’s the same type of vocal delivery over throbbing drums and piercing guitar. El Pintor seems to follow this formula to a T, so eventually every track starts blending into the others. The songs are excellent in their own right, but when they’re all lined up, Interpol start seeming like a one-trick pony.
Top track: All The Rage Back Home
