This is Interpol’s first album and precedes Antics. Interpol is a relatively new Indie/Alternative band emerging out of New York and known for sounding similar to Joy Division, The Cure etc. Turn on the Bright Lights (TotBL from now on) is a much more solid and progressive album than Antics, TotBL sounds more consistent, natural and is a better representation of Interpol’s sound.
The members of Interpol are:
Paul Banks - lead vocals, guitar
Daniel Kessler - guitar, vocals
Carlos D. - bass
Sam Fogarino – drums
01 – Untitled
The opener for TotBL begins with a beautiful repetitive guitar line which creates an ambient and blissful and yet chillingly eerie feeling. After 40 seconds the bass and drums kick in and create a soothing & relaxed sound-scape in conjunction with the amazing guitar line. Paul’s vocals sound shrouded in the magnificent instrumentals and his robotic and insipid voice sings a repeating “Surprise, sometimes, will come around/Surprise, sometimes, will come around…” After the lyrics pass the instrumentals flow marvelously until the drums and bass dropout leaving the guitar to fade out. This is definitely one of the stand out songs on the album. Exquisite. 5/5 :D
02 – Obstacle 1
This is a very energetic song which is much more dense and strapping than Untitled. Daniel’s rhythmic guitar adds to the many layered melodic blast which is Interpol with the throbbing bassline and drums working in harmony. Paul’s lyrics are amazing and work symbiotically with the instrumentals, his vocals are as melancholy and haunting as ever as he croons “It's different now that I'm poor and aging, I'll never see this face again /You go stabbing yourself in the neck” and “We can cap the old times make playing only logical harm /We can top the old lines clay-making that nothing else will change”. 5/5 :D
03 – NYC
A slow haunting song about Interpol’s home New York. Paul sings “The subway she is a porno /The pavements they are a mess /I know you've supported me for a long time /Somehow I'm not impressed” which the interspersed drone of “New York cares /Got to be some more change in my life”. The instrumentals blend together well to create a very ambience and layered sound, though not as captivating as track 1 & 2. 4/5
04 – PDA
Brisk drums start off PDA quickly joined by the other instruments it has a very fast tempo, faster than all the songs before it. Layered guitar work from Paul and Daniel and great drumming from Sam. “Yours is the only version of my desertion that I could ever subscribe to/That is all that I can do” and the chorus “Sleep tight, grim rite, we have two hundred couches where you can... /Sleep tight, grim rite, we have two hundred couches where you can”is sung grimly by Paul. 4/5
05 – Say Hello to the Angels
Track 5 is a thick and bouncy song where the repetitive guitar reminds me of Touch Me by The Doors in some weird way. Each instrument sounds powerful and driven immensely by the catchy lyrics: “And something's coming over me, I see you in the doorway /I can't control the part of me that swells up when/you move into my airspace /You move into my airspace”. It may get a bit repetitive but who cares it's great. 4.5/5
06 – Hands Away
“Will you put my hands away? /Will you be my man? /Serve it up, don't wait /Let's see about this ham” are the cold lyrics which are sung to Hands Away the slowest, quietest and saddest song on TotBL. A beautiful song and it serves as a perfect intermission. 3.5/5
07 – Obstacle 2
Another cool song which is very reminiscent of Obstacle 1 with a repetitive guitar riff, throbbing bass and poignant vocals.. Paul moans his poetic lyrics: “I'm gonna pull you in close /I'm gonna wrap you up tight /I'm gonna play with the braids that you came here with tonight /I'm gonna hold your face, and toast the snow that fell /Cuz friends don't waste wine when there's words to sell”. A fairly average song for TotBL. 4/5
08 - Stella Was A Diver And She Was Always Down
This song is the closest thing to a love song on the album as Paul sings about a woman called Stella. “She was all right because the sea was so airtight, she broke away /She is all right but she can't come out tonight, she broke away /She was all right, yeah the sea was so tight, air tight /She broke away, broke away”/ The instrumentals in this song are wonderful and spacey, particular the soothing guitars. 4/5
09 – Roland
The opening guitars and drums break into a very raw and dark sound-scape. The vocals sound distorted and the lyrics are especially weird “My best friend's a butcher, he has sixteen knives /He carries them all over the town at least he tries, /Oh look it stopped snowing”. The final guitar line is amazing (it starts at 3 minutes into the song and it is ****ing briliant) and is a perfect closer for the song. 4/5
10 – The New
A nice soft relaxing song with a gorgeous bass line and great guitar melody. The guitar melody at 1.14 is hillingly beatiful. At 3.14 there is an excellent instrumental bridge where the guitars both synchronise and play open B strings which are bent down and up again by the string being tuned down and tuned back up. A fairly standard Interpol tracks with nice lyrics “I gave a lot to you /I take a lot from you too/You slave a lot for me /Guess you could say I gave you my edge”. 5/5
11 – Leif Erikson
A beautiful song with very very good lyrics “She says It helps with the lights out/Her rabid glow is like braille to the night/She swears I'm a slave to the details/But if your life is such a big joke, why should I care” . Very soothing and ambient. 4/5
12 – Specialist
This is the bonus track or whatever. This extra track opens with a slow deep bassline and speeds up as the song progresses,it has the best lyrics “you make me lose my buttons oh yeah you make me spit/I don't like my clothes anymore/we're spending time and money yeah you're colder than yourself/now we're moving now we're taking control”. 5/5
Stand out tracks:
Untitled
Obstacle 1
PDA
Say Hello to the Angels
The New
Specialist
Turn on the Bright Lights is an awesome little album, it’s very consistent and focused and a perfect representation of the band Interpol. Definitely buy it if you enjoyed Antics, and if you didn’t like Antics surely have a listen. It’s a very solid listen and will please fans of Indie and rock alike. There is not one bad song on the album. The band members are very talented and create exceptionally beatiful outros to their songs as seen on Specialist and Roland.
