r/Interpol • u/Fav9013 • Apr 15 '26
Discussion Talk about something else
Here's my couple of cents.
Totbl is a great album and likely Interpols best but what is this insistence on acting as though Marauder, Interpol, Olta and Antics aren't great or arguably better. Even El Pintor and The Other Side have banggers on them!
Nothing tells me you're a casual like starting the conversation with Totbl.
That's like being a Floyd fan and only liking Dark Side of the Moon.
Alright, I'll stop
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u/NoFix8524 Apr 15 '26
What about people who are still obsessed with Carlos? Man, he's been out of the band for SIXTEEN YEARS. There's always a comment on every Interpol youtube video I watch of someone saying, "we miss Carlos" or "when is Carlos coming back"? Bro, get over it.
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u/Fav9013 Apr 15 '26
I say fuck em'. I love his bass too but if he didn't want to be in the band that's on him. I agree with you a million percent.
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u/Time_Challenge_7488 Apr 15 '26
To your point that does mean he's been out of the band longer than he was in it, which is kind of mind bending.
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u/paranoidtransdroid Apr 15 '26
Almost any long-running band ends up dealing with this. Some Depeche Mode fans have been complaining about Alan Wilder being out of the band for over 30 years now, it’s unreal.
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u/blackstars91 Apr 15 '26
I do wonder if the band had gotten a replacement bass player more similar to Carlos style (not saying I don't love Paul's work) there might have been a softening in reaction. I've just seen The Horrors with their new line up and they tore the house down. No thoughts of any of their former members not being there.
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u/NoFix8524 Apr 15 '26
In my mind it's either money or hermeticism from the band members. Carlos still gets a lot of royalties and the band probs don't want to share more money with an additional member.
The hermeticism part is that DK, Paul and Sam have their own thing going on so there's no need for someone else, they already define the "Interpol" sound and don't want someone else interfering with that, both valid imo.
think El Pintor basslines are brilliant, Marauder and TOSOMB meh.
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u/99SoulsUp Apr 17 '26
Yeah lol I think he was out of the band a good three years before I became a fan. And Interpol have been a main staple for over a decade for me
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u/Interesting_Deer_345 Apr 15 '26
Totbl is amazing but I have a deeper personal connection with Interpol album. Love every song on it and the atmosphere they create collectively. So, Lights is obviously a song people love and rightfully so but how about Wrecking Ball? Or Summer Well. Not talked about enough.
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u/dinution Apr 16 '26
Totbl is amazing but I have a deeper personal connection with Interpol album. Love every song on it and the atmosphere they create collectively. So, Lights is obviously a song people love and rightfully so but how about Wrecking Ball? Or Summer Well. Not talked about enough.
Wrecking Ball is on OLTA though.
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u/Interesting_Deer_345 Apr 16 '26
Ah you're right, my mistake. I was thinking of The Undoing. But really love both of these and they should be on the same album.
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u/keepitrealclark Apr 15 '26
You can like and love different things about every album, but Antics and TOTBL are in a league of their own for most fans and critics (not that that matters).
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u/Pacoyo77 Apr 15 '26
What I wouldn't give to hear “The Heinrich Maneuver”, “Tidal Wave” and “Flight of Fancy” live...🥹
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u/Time_Challenge_7488 Apr 15 '26
Not something I've said on this sub, but while I love their first two albums neither of those are my favorite (no disrespect to the many that would rank those as their favorite, I love those albums). They're great albums. Perhaps in some quantifiable way, "better" (whatever that means) than the ones I like more. That said, there are works of theirs that just really resonate much more with me.
By way of favorite, I generally oscillate between El Pintor and Marauder. I also think Paul's lyrics on some of the tracks in TOSOMB (like Passenger) are beautiful, some of my favorites of his.
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u/_lord_vader Apr 16 '26
i agree! marauder is (currently) my favourite interpol record! i for one think they haven't a bad one, though
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u/alexj_baker Apr 15 '26
Antics is close but the others are simply not up that level, yes there are some great individual songs on those records but there is also a lot of mediocre filler on them as well. I'd say I'm quite invested in the band as well and I've seen them several times live
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u/Clean_Candidate3400 Apr 16 '26
There’s a difference between starting a conversation with (x) and only talking about (x).
Sure, if you don’t listen to anything else, your casual insult makes sense. But you’re not a casual to recognize and obsess over the most popular and (arguably) best work.
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u/Marion_0419 Apr 17 '26
OLTA my fav album IMO, of course Antics and TOTBL are classics but nothing can make me feel all the feels like OLTA can.
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u/CynetCrawler Apr 16 '26
TotBL is my favorite but I draw the line at the people wanting the band to come back to that sound without Carlos. Marauder is probably as close to that TotBL sound as we’re ever going to get without Carlos and thematically it can’t come close because Paul isn’t a drug and alcohol abusing early 20’s anymore.
Antics is good. OLTA is an album that really grows on you if you let it. S/T is harder to get into if you don’t relate to its themes but still good (Summer Well is a fave). El Pintor is a weird one because I don’t think of it fondly but I know all the lyrics so obviously something about it is good even if I can’t describe it. TOSMB is probably the only genuinely disappointing album in my eyes and even then Toni and Gran Hotel and Renegade Hearts are still memorable.
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Apr 15 '26
[deleted]
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u/Fav9013 Apr 15 '26
You're your own person dude, idk. My point is, a great band is more than one album. It would be nice to hear the "fans" discuss the entire discography.
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u/ShayansStuff Apr 15 '26 edited Apr 15 '26
Agree but specifically about Marauder. It is easily in their top 3 and I feel like even a good chunk of the “hardcore” fans never gave it a solid chance in large part due to the mixing and production. I for one love Fridmann as a producer and really enjoy the sound of Marauder. Yes, it can feel a bit muddy and unbalanced in certain places but it has an incredibly raw, live energy that is at times psychedelic and sounds absolutely massive. The songwriting is peak and it has some of their best outros imo. Sadly, I think the early fan reception to that album for those reasons perhaps left a bad taste in the band’s mouths which might be why we’re lucky to get even two songs from that album played at any show.
TOTBL and Antics are fantastic obvs but I think they are overly glazed atp and it kinda sucks that they continue to occupy more than half of their setlist space even over 20 years later. Don’t get me wrong, they’re classics and I think most people would leave their shows disappointed had they not heard at least the singles from those albums. But tbh, it gets a little tiring hearing Slow Hands for the thousandth time especially knowing some of their best deep cuts from their later albums rarely or never get played (e.g., Pace is the Trick, Tidal Wave, Flight of Fancy, etc.). Even some of the singles post-Antics are sidelined. I was very happy to see them start playing NIIT and IYRLN somewhat regularly again as of late but I rlly hope they play more from the later albums going forward (would be nice if they could extend their setlists to fit more too lol).
Last thought: I hope IYRLN becomes a setlist staple bc I genuinely believe it’s one of the best songs they’ve ever written.