When Interpol’s album “Our Love to Admire” hit stores in July, entertainment Web site IGN had this to say about the album: “Now [Interpol] comes with their third endeavor, the make or break release that will signal whether or not they were just a momentary flash in the pan or if they’re the real deal.”
A capacity crowd at the Aragon Ballroom saw Thursday that Interpol is, indeed, the real deal.
Interpol, dressed in signature all-black punk formalwear, played a tight set of about a dozen songs. By playing to their strengths – emphasizing cleanliness over flashiness – the quintet put on a very solid show despite not going for mind-blowing guitar solos or extended jams.
Their set was uptempo, including faster and perhaps catchier tunes like, “The Heinrich Maneuver,” “Slow Hands” and “Obstacle 1.” Interpol’s strength was in its rhythm. Thumping bass power (from creepasaurasCarlos D – who was separated at birth from Crispin Glover) and lead singer Paul Banks’s guitar on the downbeats paced the songs, while guitarist Daniel Kessler’s fast strumming pattern provided for a unique cross between rhythm and melody. By the third song, the old wooden floor of the Aragon was shaking from the stomping feet of the audience. Accessible, basic tempos make for an easily enjoyable live show – even a British redcoat would do a little head-banging at an Interpol concert.
Another remarkable aspect of Interpol’s live performance was the constant juxtaposition between twangy, spacious, single-note melodies and the surprisingly complex and mysterious collision of sounds when guitars, bass and keyboard mixed. In a venue as acoustically magnificent as the massive Aragon Ballroom, single notes like the beginning of “Pioneer to the Falls” and “Narc” echoed darkly and eerily, while multi-layered songs like “Mammoth” and “No I in Threesome” became fascinatingly convoluted.
From a technical standpoint, Interpol does not play remarkably difficult riffs. However, it is their musical minimalism that makes them different from their contemporaries. Nonsense lyrics that could be written by Anthony Kiedis (“Wipe the pollen from the faces/Make revision to a dream while you wait in the van”) combined with the cryptic, Hemingway-like simplicity common in many songs, (“Show me the dirt pile/ And I will pray that the soul can take/ Three stowaways/ Vanish with no guile”) made for an even more interesting performance. The vocal mikes sounded turned down, making it even more difficult to understand what they were actually saying.
Interpol is fun to watch because of — or despite — technically simple guitar parts that linger mostly on the same two strings for the course of an entire song. Although this got repetitive by the end of the show, the result was unique. The guitars provided texture instead of unnecessarily drawing attention. As a result, Interpol’s music came across as more emotional than instrumental. They managed to successfully focus listeners’ attention to overall tone instead of coming at the listener in individual parts. This effect is something particular to Interpol’s music. Their togetherness is one of a kind and is probably their best selling point.
Rock fans anticipating nimble guitar solos and pounding drum riffs would be disappointed at an Interpol show, but it’s tough to find a band these days that works together as well as they do. It is evident in watching them that they are still growing as a band and are on their way to becoming a prominent fixture in contemporary rock. Interpol continues to become more sophisticated and complex and their unique sound will draw in more listeners. See them for a mysterious and interesting, if slightly redundant, performance. While their minimalism doesn’t make them the trendiest band out there, they are a competent antithesis to effects-laden, solo-centered rock bands.