Artist: Interpol

Album: “Our Love to Admire”

Release date: July 10, 2007

Label: Capitol Records

Availability: CD, iTunes

As a conceptual band, Interpol has got it right.

In Interpol’s major label debut, “Our Love to Admire,” every thematic element you’ve come to expect in Paul Banks’ lyrics is still present in one form or another. The first single, “The Heinrich Maneuver,” captures the sarcastic malice toward an ex-lover with the same bounce and pop as “Slow Hands.” “Pace is the Trick” plods along quietly until its forceful, self-incriminating conclusion, like in “Take You on a Cruise.” The thinly veiled sexual euphemisms of “Stella Was a Diver and She Was Always Down” are brought to mind by the equally explicit “No I in Threesome,” which is also alluded to into the album art, which features two stuffed lions in the brutal act of killing a curiously oblivious horned beast.

Banks’ lyrics are still as indecipherable as ever, still occasionally dropping the pretense and proving meaningful. When he utters such phrases as “You wear those shoes like a dove,” and “You look so young, like a daisy in my lazy eye,” it’s best to just smile and move on.

Sonically, the songs still sound like Interpol. Although drummer Sam Fogarino and bassist Carlos D are disappointingly given less space to shine on this dense-sounding record, the band still employs a number of musical tricks that can really pay off to the listener who pays attention.

In opener “Pioneer to the Falls,” right after Banks utters the words “Here come the falls,” guitarist Daniel Kessler breaks out a gushing tremolo guitar line reminiscent of a waterfall. The track “Mammoth” is the most aptly titled on the album – the song oozes with energy and presence from the get-go. “Wrecking Ball” climaxes in a beautiful cacophony of horns, which leads into the love-it-or-hate-it closing track, “Lighthouse.” The track is made up of little else than rolling guitar chords and Banks’ singing, but producer Rich Costey has done a better job capturing Banks’ unique voice than anyone has before. The track sets into a relaxing soundscape in which Banks tells the listener “Slow down, and let the waves have their way now.”

Interpol’s third album does not stray far their other work, and it’s not exactly an improvement. But it does showcase the band’s willingness to evolve within its own parameters, making the old new again, so to speak. The solid tracks here provides for what is hopefully a stepping stone in Interpol’s career.