Interpol
Turn On The Bright Lights
On Sale Now
For $11.98

When it comes to indie cred, the four guys in New York City's Interpol have damn near perfect resumes. They met at NYU, worked at hip cafes and record companies, and cranked out their first tunes on a small European label before Matador picked them up back here in the States. But instead of copping the Strokes 70's underground sound, Interpol has pushed the retro into the future. Their latest release, Turn on the Bright Lights, swirls mope rock echoes and guitar driven melancholy into an early 80s underground dream that will make fans of old Cure, Joy Division, Velvet Underground and Peter Murphy salivate.

With a sharp mod look (two of the guys grew up in England and worshipped the Jam) and an attitude to match, songs like "Untitled" and "Obstacle 1" understate emotion yet pull in the listener with a deep, seductive drone.

By the time the album spins up to "NYC," one of the discs finest tracks, you can catch a sparse but powerful beat. The guitars still jangle and Paul Banks' low end vocals swim semi-submerged in the mix as the dizzy combination both sedates and inspires.

"PDA" then mixes noise and melody better than your favorite bartender. Basslines balk and push while cymbals crash and wail, and guitars just keep on churning. By the time Banks sings, "I'm gonna pull you in close/ Gonna wrap you up tight/ Gonna play with the brains that you came here with tonight" on "Obstacle 2," anyone with ears will understand why this record is so powerful— it reverberates with the darkness of the past while it sets the bar for the next generation of retro rock.

Records like Interpol's Turn on the Bright Lights are cool for at least two reasons. First, it's a great collection of music. Second, it reminds you to bust out your big brother's vinyl collection, or better yet, drag your feet to a used record store to turn on to the original purveyors of similar sounds.

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