A Fine Mess EP - Interpol: Review

Interpol

is a legendary post-punk revivalist and indie band whose debut album Turn On The Bright Lights is widely considered one of the best albums of the 2000's and one of the best modern post-punk albums. The band instantly received veteran indie status after releasing an excellent follow-up project two years later and have since released a handful of projects of varying quality. The groups last project before Fine Mess was 2018's Marauder which was met with poor reviews from both critics and fans. 

Review By Lavender:

Interpol's 2002 album Turn On The Bright Lights is an undeniable masterpiece and worthy on its own of the bands legend status in indie music. Since then the band has released five more studio albums which range from excellent, (Antics, El Pintor) to underwhelming, (Interpol, Our Love To Admire) to the straight up boring Marauder released last year. Given that the lead single and title track of this EP was the most energetic and explosive song I've heard from Interpol in years I had hopes that this could be a return to form and not just simply a B-Sides release. Now that it is here I have to say the quality is better and more consistent than what the band delivered on Marauder but it suffers from some of the same issues. 

As I said the lead single and title track Fine Mess is a song I enjoy a lot and one to look out for on my singles list at the end of the year. It has explosive fuzzy guitars and strained distorted vocals from Paul Banks that were so sorely missing on Marauder. But even underneath the great sound of the track the tune itself is incredibly sharp and the catchy refrains met with wailing guitars are a classic Interpol sound that the band pulls off really well here. No Big Deal is also a decent song that isn't quite as sonically exciting but still features some excellent songwriting. The guitar riff is a touch plain but I do enjoy it quite a bit and the lyrics aren't the sharpest but overall this is definitely a song I can get behind.

Unfortunately the EP just gets more and more tame from here. Real Life features an ugly half-chorus but the tempered guitars start to win me over in the second half of the track and when it explodes into its final refrain it's very rewarding. The track is just so boring leading up to these moments and could use a little bit more going on to help it out. The Weekend was the EP's second single and I wasn't a fan of it then. Even though I am a little bit more on its side now it still sounds like one of the boring tunes on Marauder, just not the biggest offender. The vocal performance and songwriting are so mellow and by the numbers that any charm they may have wears off quickly and while the playing is tight it seems to build up to some kind of climax that never comes. 

The only song I outright didn't like was the closer Thrones which is fittingly the weakest track here. Once again the guitars get old so quick and there is nothing to pick up the slack until near the very end of the song. The track ends on a pretty good moment which is nice to close the album on but ultimately getting to the good parts is more trouble than it's worth.

Interpol had the chance to redeem themselves after releasing the worst album of their career and at points on Fine Mess they come tantalizingly close. If you hated Marauder this EP may trick you into briefly thinking the band is returning to form but the feeling usually doesn't last and the consistency here is lacking even on such a short project. 5.5/10

Best Track: Fine Mess

For more indie check out my review of Mac DeMarco's Here Comes The Cowboy here.