Kill your idols

This is long overdue, but Radiation Cow's rebuke of her fav band of all time triggered it.Thank grud my favourite band of all time is no more. Thanks Ian, you inadvertently immortalized a band and set in on a pedestal that it can't be knocked off, least of all by themselves!!

Now, Interpol!! Was a time I would brook no criticism (well, not much, they weren't perfect -hoorah!), but third album fever is upon them and they must be called to task.Bringing out an album of lounge music is inexcusable! Regardless of how many times I play 'Our Love to Admire' nothing sticks, nothing triggers the urge to hum, chant, whistle along. I know what it is, its the problem all bands eventually fall into...the quest for excellence..perfection.........smoothness...pah, I spit on your 'skill'..where's the frikken' anger, the hurt the need to get the music out without the obscene sheen of post-(over) production.

Ah, but, in their own words, this is what has happened....'Turn on the Bright Lights' and 'Antics' where composed on guitar, voice etc, the sheen and tremble, the suggestion of vibe and atmosphere added as an embellishment, a last, light touch like the flick of a brushstroke to enhance the bright spots, frost the bleakness and darken the black....."Our love to Admire' was done the other way around!!! Keyboards and first rhythm first, the guitars and voice after..nooooooooo!!! Maybe the label change is also to blame, from a quirky, innovative independent to a schmaltzy big label...smoooooooth and bland.... The first two albums were subtly different, like two separate views, each very distinguishable from each other yet still the same machine (raw, hard, clunky yet honest). The third, I'm afraid is a more-of-the-same-paint-by-numbers affair.

Perhaps bands should have a two/three album limit then implode/explode/metamorphose into something else, fresh, fervent and hungry. You're only as good as your last release!! We have no time for treading water...

Yes, yes, the above comments are about a year too late, but hey, I've been procrastinating!! Say what you want!!