Believe the hype. Interpol are as good as everybody says they are. Understand something: It was The Cure’s Disintegration that first opened my mind to the incredible power of music. I’ve never held allegiance to any particular trend or style, but for most of the late ’80s and early ’90s, it was all about dark atmospherics, goth-tinted new wave, and what’s now known as electroclash.
My shelves were stacked with cassettes of Cure records, Love and Rockets, Peter Murphy (though strangely no Bauhaus), New Order, Sisters of Mercy, Smiths, etc, etc. I think the guys in Interpol lived my childhood. And I don’t think they ever stopped living it.
If this record had come out fifteen years ago, Interpol would be on the cover of just about every major music magazine in the world instead of being relegated to indie obscurity. Turn on the Bright Lights is a record completely out of its time, emerging as though all of the garbage that filled the mainstream airwaves over the past fifteen years simply never happened. It’s perfect. It’s stunning. Go out and buy it right now, and then buy copies for all of your friends.
There’s not much else to say.
Written by Chris Brown.