CD: 7243 8128492
RELEASE DATE: 2002
LABEL: Matador

01. Untitled
02. Obstacle 1
03. NYC
04. PDA
05. Say Hello To The Angels
06. Hands Away
07. Obstacle 2
08. Stella Was A Diver And She Was Always Down
09. Roland
10. The New
11. Leif Erikson

From the moment that this debut album saunters in with 'Untitled', all faded glamour and jaded melodies, Interpol prove themselves to be men on a mission to take us back to a time when long faces and even longer overcoats were de rigeur for alpha males the musical world over. Turn On The Bright Lights is as cold as a Factory Records sleeve, but the band's sheer love of their influences shines through on each track. Bassist Carlos D. has more than a little Peter Hook in him. Singer Paul Banks has inherited much of Ian Curtis' primal baritone, but he also bares the influence of Lou Reed and the Kitchens Of Distinction. But when guitars chime like a grumpy grandfather clock and the vocals are doomily distraught, when they throw in some paranoia, no little wry humour and a few deliciously intense tunes such as 'PDA', then there are few doubts that Interpol's history lesson will find favour in foreign climes in these post-modern times. Highly recommended if you like Joy Division, Kitchens of Distinction, The Chameleons & The Sound.