Interpol
El Pintor
8 September 2014
Matador
4 stars out of 5
Interpol’s fifth LP, El
Pintor (an anagram of “Interpol” that means “the painter” in Spanish), is
their first without original bassist Carlos Dengler. For most bands, the
departure of the bass player would be something of a non-event—at least to the
general public—but for Interpol, this is a big freakin’ deal. Part of what made
Interpol’s sound so exciting on their debut was the interplay between the bass
and the drums (see “Obstacle 1”), and with guitarist/vocalist Paul Banks taking
over bass duties in the studio, doubt existed as to whether or not things would
still “work.” Well, cast off your doubts, my children, as pretty much
everything about El Pintor works, and
works very well, thank you very much.
“Anywhere” is a tidy little ditty that looks back at “Evil”
and laughs at the older track’s relative lack of sophistication. “Same Town,
New Story” sees Interpol just nailing it in terms of their established
aesthetic before pushing the boundaries and annexing completely new stylistic
ground with “My Blue Supreme.” (Well, okay, it’s the same old stylistic ground,
but pushed to the extreme.) Things don’t peter out after that, either. Every
track is strong and aims straight for the bulls-eye of what it means to be
Interpol.
El Pintor, while
never straying far from the sound that was set in stone back in 2001 on Turn on the Bright Lights, is less
restrained and cautious than the two LPs immediately preceding it, Our Love to Admire and Interpol. The band sounds relaxed,
almost as if they were having fun during the recording process. (Fans recoil in
horror at the idea that their heroes should ever even consider such anathema as “fun” or “laughing”
or even “not frowning.”) Every new Interpol record is a huge event, but El Pintor is the first time in a decade
when the product on offer feels truly worthy of the ceremony.
reviewed by Richard Krueger
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