July 2, 2003

Interpol : London Shepherd's Bush Empire

In the future, folks might be more bothered about their music than their dress-sense. No, really...

Look around. The cult of the skinny black tie may already be on the wane. It’s not that the dark well that informs Interpol’s dapper miserablism and stylish air of disinterest has run dry, rather it’s because they’re drinking in more diverse inspiration.

Of the two new songs previewed tonight, it’s the heaving ‘Length Of Love’ that is likely to scare the living piss out of the most pasty-looking Interpol devotee. Punctuated by Sam Fogarino’s constantly changing beat and Carlos D’s rumbling Nick Oliveri-style bass sound, it’s a dark and deathly frog-march of a song that treads a grim and seldom travelled path between Joy Division and Queens Of The Stone Age.

Even more startling, although currently lacking in some definition, the second untitled track hints at a contrasting poppier direction that may well disprove Interpol as being the quintessential band to have a face like a slapped arse to.

Sure, the taut agitation of ‘PDA’ and ‘Say Hello To The Angels’ still sound like the soundtrack to an 80s film noir-classic but those fantastic songs are soon to become past glories. Sometime in the future, Interpol will return to amaze us again and this time, no one will give a shit about what they’re wearing.

Hardeep Phull