The Details

Interpol

Interpol

Planning to buy Interpol’s new fourth album? Consider the vinyl—much easier to confine your listening to Side A that way. Songs one through five constitute a sleek update of everything we dug about the New Yorkers’ hypnotic songwriting in the first place: the slow build/big finish of “Lights,” the playful wiggles of “Summer Well” and “Barricade,” the power of dumb lyrics like “Somebody make me say no, no, no, yes.” The record’s back half? So down-tempo and samey sounding, it feels like the work of an Interpol bereft of interesting ideas. Dreary closing tracks “All of the Ways” and “The Undoing” are the worst offenders, doing nothing much for five-plus minutes apiece (apart from detouring into some Spanish vocals in the case of the latter). No wonder outgoing bassist Carlos Dengler hit the door soon after recording Interpol. Shoulda waited for the vinyl, Mr. D.