Turn on the Bright Lights has always been considered to be Interpol’s best album. At least that’s the consensus I’ve witnessed from lurking around on various websites here and there. I’ve never been able to get into it as a whole. They have great, great songs. The band’s instrumentals can be out of this world sometimes. But in some cases it’s either the chosen melody, lyrics, or Paul Banks’ singing style that irks me. But when everything comes together, Interpol can produce some perfect moments. Case in point, today’s track ‘NYC’. Even then, it took me a while to really get into this one too. But one day – relatively recent – it appeared on my ‘Discover Weekly’ playlist on Spotify and it made sense then and there.

I’ve also gathered that ‘NYC’ is a personal highlight for many a fan from this album. At its time of release, the indifferent yet sincere dedication within the song’s lyrics to New York City after the 9/11 attacks struck a chord with a lot of listeners. Paul Banks likens the subway to a porno scene, and the pavements are a mess, but New York’s still the backdrop of his life and many others and will always be there for everybody no matter what goes down within.. More than 20 years on and as a guy from the UK, it’s very easy to feel a bit removed from that whole situation. I guess I’m more engaged with the music than with the lyrics. When those opening misty guitars set the tone, it’s hard to get some feelings inside. Banks’ lone vocal quivers in the foreground amidst a great drum pattern that repeats itself. Those drums sound great too, the tone of that ride cymbal is perfect. And with the first chorus, Carlos Dengler enters with a travelling bassline. The track is really one of those looking-out-the-window-on-the-train kind of tunes.

I think the moment that gets people goosebumps up is when Banks calls out the album title during the album’s last few choruses. I do agree, that’s a pretty sweet moment. A great way to close things out too. Maybe it comes a little too early in the album though, just an opinion of mine that I’ve thought of at this time of writing. ‘PDA’ comes right after this track. And while ‘NYC’ does tug at the heart a bit, ‘PDA’ kinda pushes it out the way and kinda sucks away at that climactic moment. If ‘NYC’ was, say, the penultimate song on the album, think it could have been even greater. But it is what it is. And what it is now, and always has been, is a beautiful track.

And that’s the end of the Ns. I’ll be right back.