Interpol

There was a time when Interpol could do no wrong. As the purveyors of uptown cool in NYC's post-Strokes downtown scene, the band cribbed Joy Division better than the rest, penning some pretty rad tunes in the process. However, their jump to the majors caused a fair bit of consternation and the resulting album (2007's Our Love to Admire) saw the band slip a few notches in the quality department. This self-titled return to the indies does nothing to redeem the group, now a trio after bass player Carlos D bailed following Interpol's completion. The record most resembles the band's debut, in terms of its embrace of creeping atmospherics. But in painstakingly assembling the album's intricate sounds, Interpol forgot to actually write any hooks. For all of Our Love to Admire's flaws, it housed a couple propulsive cuts, like "The Heinrich Maneuver." Here, "Memory Serves" and "Lights" build and build, but there's never any payoff, which is the way things go throughout the record's ten plodding tracks. Far from the return to form many had hoped for, Interpol finds this once great band operating as shadows of their former selves.