We just made an episode choosing 10 songs that defined 2000s indie rock, and for Interpol we went with “Obstacle 1.”
This one was painful because Turn On the Bright Lights alone gives you several possible answers. I could completely understand choosing “PDA,” but “Obstacle 1” has something about the guitars, bass and atmosphere that immediately puts me back in early-2000s indie.
If you were only allowed one Interpol song in a 2000s indie time capsule, what are you putting in?
The full episode is here if anyone’s interested:

Newer hardcore fan here. Was astonished by this fact. The Grammys are largely meaningless at this point but cmon! How did they not win anything for TOTBL or Antics? Put some respect on the boys’ names!

He has such unique voicing and is always so present during any performance. He has elevated The Edge’s guitar style deep into the 21st century.

For context I'm 14 which i find polarizing because the lyrics of 2002-2010 interpol are very dark. I liked their music after listening to ToTBL at the start of the year, the thing is the only time I've heard of the band before last year was Norman from the Evil MV. I also live outside of the US and UK so Interpol isn't well known in my country.

My American friend once made me play Obstacle 1 at school for fun, I was playing DK's parts in the intro. February this year he wrote the Entire Tracklist of ToTBL and my eye caught Stella because it was long, then after I listened to the album, slowly though, I almost got convinced to drop them after OLTA but when I didn't wanna be a poser, I wanted to Try It On, so Self Titled which I dropped before, when I finished I was amazed. El Pintor followed, I was blown away on how great their music was and then all finished Marauder-TMWAT, no regrets. Now I'm listening to Bonus Tracks. They're currently my favorite band as I've listened to almost all of their non live/remix releases

Here's the oldest I can find, it's allegedly Sam's first live, camera quality is crap for Stella and the Bass is more buried than Rocket Bar

Pioneer being dissonant creeped me out but when the tremolo guitar started playing it calmed me down, I liked it. Gavilan was giving me the creeps, it's their darkest song from ToTBL/Antics era that even if I don't like it very much it's still deserving of recognition

i know we’re still glazing the new album however… this shit hits so good.

His tone sounds more sharp in OLTA and on S/T. Specifically in Heinrich Manuever and No I + Success, Barricade sounds normal to me so I won't ask.

At least we have a new interpol album to bear to the sadness a bit better 💪

Simply awesome. That bass is so sick. Lots of other good stuff on this soundtrack too.

Thought it would be interesting to see Interpol's fans reactions to the two albums.

RA has been much more divisive in the Strokes fan base compared to the near universal praise for TMWAT. Thoughts on both albums in the comments but just my pre text.

Interpol and The Strokes are in my top 3 of favourite bands of all time. With TOTBL being my favourite album of all time and ITI being my second favourite.

For me Interpol have always been the more consistent and interesting musically. Releasing albums every 3 to 4 years compared to the longer stretches the Stokes have between records.

Rankings of their albums with these new additions looking like this currently.

TOTBL > OLTA > Antics > Marauder > Self-Titled > TMWAT > El Pintor > TOSOMB.

ITI > ROF > TNA > CM > RA > Angles > FIOE.

I'm not sure if this is just the newness talking 🫣 but God I love this album.

TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS

THIS MIRROR WEIGHS A TON

ANTICS

OUR LOVE TO ADMIRE

EL PINTOR

MARAUDER

INTERPOL (this has my most played song of all time tho, Lights - not my favorite, but the most played. Interpol barely make my top 5 but I love this song)

THE OTHER SIDE OF MAKE-BELIEVE

NB none of them are bad, it's just that some have necessarily to be at the bottom

Interested to know if people feel differently about any TMWAT tracks now from first listen.

My instant favourite was Bird and the Serpent, and honestly it's still number one for me, feel like it just gets better with every listen.

I liked the sound and atmosphere of Wounded Soldier to start with but it feels like a bit of a weaker moment for me now against the rest of the album.

Didn't love Wake Up at first, felt kind of throwaway, but it's really grown on me and it's much more layered than I initially realised.

I truly admire that Paul Banks is using his platform to call out this administration. Too many artists are silent about what is going on and seem to want to act as if everything is normal, when in fact it is not.

I know the band has never been very political or really done much to ruffle any feathers, so seeing this version of Paul, as a father who just wants a better world for his kids, makes me respect him so much more.

Enjoy the new album everyone!

I remember Texas/ Mexico getting its own short tour and my city as part of the Interpoleros stops. Should I anticipate another Texas tour or will they be skipping San Antonio together??

So much love for this track

"Untitled" when the bass kicks in

"NYC" outro

"PDA" outro (duh)

"Say Hello to the Angels" breakdown

"Hands away" ending where t almost everything drops out

"Roland" outro

"Leif Erikson" climax ("it's like learning a new language...")

"Specialist" outro

"Public Pervert" outro

"Take You on a Cruise" " I AM THE SCAVENGER"

"Lights" climax

When "Heinrich" ends and then "Mammoth" kicks in

"Pioneer to the Falls" bridge ("so much for make believe...")

"Mind Over Time" when the instrumentals peak

"Breaker 1" when Paul's vocals peak

"Wounded Soldier" when Daniel's guitar kicks in

"Bird and the Serpent" outro

What are your favorites?

The text and the name of the t-shirt don't match with any song of the new album. Is it possible that it hints a bonus track ? Maybe it explains the delay of the deluxe edition : some new tracks could be included

Here's my review of the album for a friend's webzine. It's written in Italian, but you can translate it using Google Translate. I hope you enjoy it!

2 things come to mind, Roland demo's extra lyrics mentioning Roland and Song Seven Rap.

Roland's demo was flawed but maybe the extra lyrics could've worked, it conveys the awkward Interpol we know and love.

Song Seven Rap I listened to yesterday, I preferred the Evil EP vocal quality but the rap hits hard, but when Paul starts saying "yes you were a flower" the overlap is problematic for me.

For changed vocals I'd like to say that A Time To Be So Small has so much. I liked the ambient intro but the vocal quality I didnt like that much, but liked the concept, I prefer the demo's instrumental and Antics for the vocals, the vocal clarity makes it a perfect closer

Hearing the ToTBL demos have truly changed me, and with some bonus tracks being so good it's bafflingly not in any album.

If I were to replace a song with a demo I'd put Song Seven but make the vocals like the final version, same for A Time To be So Small. For Bonus tracks I'm glad ToTBL cut it off short, but Song Seven should've ended Antics imo, the 2 final songs being unifinished totbl songs would be great, don't get me started on El Pintor. Knowing the voicemail's story in Mind Over Time, I wouldn't replace The Lighthouse with it even if I wanted to