Monday, June 22, 2009

Top 100: 'Next Exit', Interpol 2004


"We ain't going to the town, we’re going to the city.”

I love the Afghan Whigs’ Black Love nod in the organ that opens this song. These guys were indie rock lightning rods for the early part of the decade, as they seemed to represent everything that was artificial and derivative about the whole NYC / Brooklyn rock scene. Can they sound any more like Joy Division? And yet it’s impossible to ignore that it’s nice to hear that sound again, that early 80s Joy Division sound.

I easily could have included any number of songs from these guys, most all of them from their debut album “Turn on The Bright Lights”: “Say Hello To Angels” might be the biggest Smiths rip off since The Sundays had the shriek of the week with “Here’s Where The Story Ends”, but you know you rock this one with “This Charming Man” in mind, and think, “It’s nice to hear that sound again.” I never realized how much “NYC” owes to R.E.M. until I heard R.E.M. cover it at Madison Square Garden. It’s a good song and one of many that makes me wonder what R.E.M. could have been doing if they didn’t fade into whatever they are now. And, lastly, “Obstacle 1” is in many ways the most quintessential Interpol tune out there. Take your pick.

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