when interpol emerged in 2002ish, from presumably an s&m club in some f-ed up alleyway in hells kitchen, nyc, everybody paid attention. given their origins as nyu students i totally believe it. (both being privileged and depraved)
for a while they made it fashionable to mix cocaine, cigarettes, books, and the words of 'the wasteland.' and weirdly shaped objects, as witnessed in nearly every one of their videos. most often through furniture and bjorkesque/neogeisha/matrix chique girls doing odd things on top of said furniture, interpol and their music video directors created a sort of stylistic ethic around the band to rival radiohead before them arcade fire after, at least for the 'mainstream indie' consciousness (the words not as contradictory as they may appear). it was effective, it translated to great live shows as i can attest having seen them, and the music wasnt half bad either. now though, it all just feels pedestrian. the first two albums are gold, and are going to hold up to time pretty well. but for anything new, that scene is just dead and gone, especially when carlos d, the most vividly terrifying member. all in all though, not bad for a band who took from joy division and ts eliot and didnt contribute much themselves.
live they were just cool, especially in the swampy feeling tabernacle in atlanta. spartan set design, wearing all black, hardly any stage lights, most light coming from the member's cigarettes during the show. plenty loud too.
heres the newest, which looks like the oldest. but sounds much worse. time for me to go listen through 'turn on the bright lights' and think about 2002, which for all intents and purposes was four thigns for me. this album, 'amnesiac,' 'is this it' and 'rush of blood to the head.' that was a good year. a year id do again. its amazing how new those albums felt. they all come together so well in the context of that year. theyre all of course defined by 9-11. amnesiac predicted it, rush of blood thought less of it, turn on the bright lights found something else despite it, and is this it said fuck it.