Turn on the Bright Lights - Interpol
And for today…a different kind of sad…An album about a man who learns the hard way that he has a problem with commitment and comes to terms with it while trying to grow. And a song about a cat!
Track List:
Untitled
Obstacle 1
NYC
PDA
Say Hello to the Angels
Hands Away
Obstacle 2
Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down
Roland
The New
Leif Erikson
Songs I have heard before this listening:
None that I can recall. And if I did hear one I would have assumed it was a different band completely.
Songs I think could have been singles:
Obstacle 1 and Obstacle 2 - Who makes a song with a sequel and doesn’t release them as a single?
NYC - This song shines, the background creates a dreamy yet haunting stage for a song delivery about nostalgia for home and yearning for further growth.
PDA - This is stylistically different enough from the first couple of songs and helps set the tone
Other artists this reminds me of:
The Killers - The bands sound so much alike, maybe it’s due to the time period the albums were released but I suspect this heavily influenced The Killer’s sound.
Modest Mouse - Some of the soundscape building reminds me of some of the songs off “Good News for People Who Love Band News”
Ween - I hear some similarties with the composition of the songs and Ween songs.
Notes on the music:
I really like the vocals, they are very monotonic with a very dry delivery.
There is a full soundstage with controlled distortion, a basic sounding drum kit.
I think the music shows it’s age with tone and composition it’s not the whiney rock of the era but still very of the time.
Notes on individual Songs
Untitled
Wow, I really like the way the album starts. Such a bland name for the opening track. Starts with guitars and dissonance and builds in an uneasy way, then the drums and bass drop in and we got a groove going. The song ends on a degrading loop and drone.
Obstacle 1
Holy power chords Batman! That’s most this album, technical expertise of the instruments are not on display here. But that’s also not the purpose of the song. More enjoyable is the sing-songy slow rap drone like delivery of the lyrics. With a voice full of tone that approaches vocal fry the singer delivers story of passion for an unnamed woman. We get a bridge that is unlike the rest of the song with a falsetto voice singing “She packs it away” on repeat then pulls it back to the chorus. It’s an enjoyable pop rock song.
NYC
This has to be a song as an ode to the bands hometown of NYC. We have different droning elements that help fill the back of the soundstage which sets a slightly anxious dreamy mood. The singer crones “New York Cares” with a response of “got to be some more change in my life” leading me to believe that this is about moving up and outside of the familiar, facing new diversity and challenges in life. The song ends with the lead saying“Oh it’s up to me now, turn on the bright lights” followed by the response of "Got to be some more change in my life”. This makes me think the narrator has been going with the flow for a while and has now realized that if he wants to change, develop, and grow he needs to take initiative.
PDA
We start much different from how the previous song ended with strong driving drums. So far this is the most "rock” song on the album. It sounds to me that the narrator is discussing the end of a relationship, he feels that his partner led him to cheat, he regrets his actions. Or it could be about date rape, I hope not because it’s a pretty catchy song and very upbeat.
Say Hello to the Angels
Now we have a darker open, still more upbeat than the start of the album. The composition of this song’s verses reminds me of early rock and roll with a neat little ditty the guitars play after the delivery of some lines. When we get to the chorus it devolves back to the sing-song like drone rap like delivery of the lyric. I think that there may be multiple singers, on this track and several others, I can’t tell but the tone of the voice on some of the lyrics that were laid over the rest were different enough on this song that makes me think it may be another vocalist, both have very similar tones. I really do like the way the song ends with apparently controlled feedback.
Hands Away
This song is cool. At this point this is my favorite song on the album. There is an amazing build up over the course of the song that is just fantastic.
Obstacle 2
See my thoughts about Obstacle 1 and you will have my thoughts for this song. I am a sucker for songs with multiple parts. The story is different, the narrator is now telling his partner she can try to fix him however he doesn’t anticipate changing for her, even telling her she can’t control his free time, mentions drinking and a street, so perhaps. You can try to change me but I will still go out, get drunk, and buy whores.
Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down
It’s interesting that this one breaks the 4th wall so to speak and has an introduction of the name of the song.
As for an interpretation…yeah Stella was a diver, she also provided oral favors for the narrator. She is no more, perhaps by her own hand. I will leave that vague and move on.
Roland
I like the name of the song…We get more of a punk feel on this one than we have had.
So this could be about a serial killer…or a cat.
The first verse:
Hey, 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
My best friend's from Poland and oh he has a beard
But they caught him with his case in a public place
That is what we had feared
The second verse:
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
And my best friend's from Poland and oh he has a beard
But they caught him with his case in a public place
That is what we had feared
So ,at face value the best friend is a serial killer who carries a bunch of knives around to butcher folks but takes time to speak with the narrator; per the chorus:
He severed segments and secretly liked that
He always took the time to speak with me I liked him for that
He severed segments and secretly liked that
He always took the time
He always took the time
Or I put way too much stock in this one line that separates the first chorus with the second verse:
C'mon now pussycat
I think this is being completely up front. We are talking about Roland the cat that lives at the Polish Deli near the narrator’s home. Roland will aways make time for the narrator but also kills bugs and other smaller pests. I’ve decided I like this narrative and it’s correct.
The New
We just got so much more serious. I really like the spring reverb on the chords played at the start of the song. This song has a more pop feel. It would appear this is another song where the narrator is in a spat with his girlfriend again due to cheating.
This song has one of the more interesting scenes made by the music. I find it difficult to not tap along with the instrumental parts. It’s a fun sounding song.
Leif Erikson
Before I start listening to this one. I am hoping for an epic tale of Viking discovery and conquest of Vinland…time to press play
Well my expectations have been grounded, we don’t have a tele of Viking adventures. Instead the narrator is struggling to have a relationship where he doesn’t step out. The end of the song is a decent metaphor for the most the ideas expressed int he album:
Her love's a pony
My love's subliminal
The woman love for him is new and exciting while his is short and fleeting.
Overall this album is a confession to many failed relationship and a growth as the narrator ages. At the start the narrator blames his partner for his inability to commit to their relationship. By the end of the album he is aware of this flaw in himself and is trying, poorly, to restrain himself from his own vices.
