Review by Dan:

Sophomore album from New York’s purveyors of gloomy art rock, who have been compared with The Strokes in some circles, however the only major similarity I can see is their hometown. Interpol offer brooding, taut, thoughtful indie, with Paul Banks sometimes sounding as if he’s delivering his emotional, esoteric vocals in a totally different space to the rest of the band - a better comparison would be to some of Joy Division’s material. “Evil”, which has Carlos D’s bass loitering around the intro, develops into an obstinate, expansive track, followed by the imposing, at times majestic “Narc”, lyrically a love song, but nowhere near it musically. “Slow Hands” is intense, the quickest on the album – ‘I just feel crazy like the good old days, you make me want to pick up a guitar’ – exactly what Daniel Kessler’s elaborate dynamics make me want to do.
Intelligent, dark, sometimes complex, and a definite positive progression from “Turn On The Bright Lights”.