Interpol/ Interpol

Interpol
Interpol
(Co-Op)

You'd be forgiven for thinking Interpol were out to get you. There you are, on a bit of a high after enjoying The Vaselines album, when Paul Banks' cackling skull of a voice kicks in, battering you down, down, down into an inescapable web of paranoia and existentialism. Argh! Remorse, Banks! Please, show remorse!
But then, you know what to expect with Interpol - and with October looming, their timing is at least spot on. "I think the winter will be wonderful!" croaks Banks on 'Safe Without'. See what I mean?
Their self-titled album feels like an auto-pilot drive through the atmospherics that made their name, until 'Light' delivers some, eh, darkness of a truly impressive variety, speeding as it does through a funfair ride of hedonism. It's terrifying, and it's unstoppable.
Another highlight sees the band reaching for the kind of avant-techno beloved of Radiohead: 'Try It On' snaps to a tight mechanic beat, while the windows gradually open to reveal a night sky full of twinkling alien orbs.
Interpol: The Album is largely painted in one shade though, and that is the shade of utter doom. It's kind of a prolonged suicide note, without much in the way of ying to offset that yang.
In the past the band have balanced this seductive darkness with moments of gospel-like peace ('Untitled'), a will to action ('Evil'), and some frequently amazing tunes. In this movie through, the unhappy ending seems to have become the whole script.