Tag Archives: antics

#1222: Interpol – Slow Hands

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Well, this is the last Interpol song that’s gonna be on here. A real shame, to be sure. Some of you may click on the ‘Interpol’ tag at the end of blog, witness the others posts about the band I’ve written on here and come to a conclusion that I might be quite the basic fan of them because they’re all singles. And I wouldn’t argue with you. But I’ve listened through at least five Interpol albums. The band’s first three are the best ones, and the singles are almost usually the best numbers on them. At least to me. And then bassist Carlos Dengler left after the fourth one, and it hasn’t been the same since.

But when the songs are good, they’re very, very good, and this can be said for today’s featured number ‘Slow Hands’ – the first single from Interpol’s Antics, released in 2004. It may have very well be the first Interpol song I’d ever heard too, again, thanks to the good people who were working at MTV2 back in the day. I want to say I may have saw the video a couple times initially, a few months passed, and then for some reason the video started showing quite regularly. That reason turned out to be that the song was being released as a single again over in the UK. It got to a lower position than the first time.

The old family CRT-TV had this thing where the right speaker played much more loudly than the left. And from listening to Antics, I know the interplay between Daniel Kessler and Paul Banks’s guitars are usually the main focus. So I missed out on that for a while. But even hearing the right side, featuring Kessler’s guitar part, it didn’t stop the song from sounding as good as it did. ‘Slow Hands’, I think, is a song about love and all the aspects of it. Falling into it, not trying hard enough to find it, being heartbroken after rejection. I put an emphasis on ‘I think’ because Paul Banks’s lyrics are written in a way that really doesn’t make the subject matter obvious in any kind of fashion, yet they still possess a poetic quality to them. Banks sounds fantastic behind the microphone here too. He does throughout the whole album. The comparisons to Ian Curtis of Joy Division was a huge thing for a while. The reference to a song of that band here may be a joking nod to them. But there’s a particular tone to them on this track that have always been captivating since that first time I heard it.

My iPod #342: Interpol – Evil

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 You know what I miss about Interpol? Carlos Dengler. You have to admit that man’s bass playing was so essential to Interpol’s sound, and the band have suffered just a tad since his departure. His melodic bass lines were perfect at establishing the tone of many tracks and the instrument itself was the one you most wanted to hear when listening to an Interpol track. “Evil” is a track where both those statements are very much true.

The first thing you hear when the song starts playing? Dengler on the bass. And though I wouldn’t say that memorable riff is evil, it definitely sets off a very moody and ominous atmosphere. No, I think the ‘evil’ is represented by the subject matter, the track may be about Rosemary Wet, the serial killer who tortures and killed teenage girls along with her husband Fred. Thinking about it now, the song may be from the perspective of the husband, dead after committing suicide before going on trial. But that’s just my suggestion.

“Evil” is a worrying track. And if you think listening to it’s bad, just look at the music video. I can’t remember when I first watched it but when I did I didn’t know whether to be scared, concerned or amused by the puppet. Its facial expressions are frightening at times, but its movements are pretty hilarious.

My iPod #154: Interpol – C’mere

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For a long time I was unsure on how to pronounce this song’s name. I once thought it was the letter ‘C’ and then the word ‘mere’ which I knew didn’t make any sense. I thought it was a french term or something. That was until my sister told me that it’s simply “C’mere” as in “come here”.

Hi everyone. My iPod is back. For the third series. The Cs. It’s going to be a bumpy ride. But don’t be scared. Join me on this journey.

I believe this is the first Interpol song that I have “reviewed”, so let me just give you some details on how I started listening to them. You can find out about them for yourselves.

MTV2. That’s about it. I was nine/ten, and “Slow Hands” was playing. I had never heard anything like it before. Not just because it was the first time I had heard an Interpol song, but it sounded so mysterious and conveyed quite an eerie atmosphere. I would go on about how much I like it, but this is the post for “C’mere”; let’s talk about that.

“C’mere” was the last single to be released from Interpol’s second album “Antics” in 2004. I’ve never actually listened to the in full which is probably a major boo-boo, but I’ve always had the opinion that I never really have to because I already like the singles released from it. I’m digressing again.

“C’mere” is from the perspective of a man who has feelings for a girl already in a relationship, and basically figuring out how to get her for himself (Hence the term, ‘c’mere’). It’s a great track. In comparison to those like “Slow Hands” and “Evil” which are quite haunting, “C’mere” is one that you can just casually listen to, courtesy of Carlos Dengler’s wandering bass line and Paul Banks’ relaxing vocals.

Listen to it.

Jamie.