Artist: Julian Plenti
Album: Julian Plenti Is...Skyscraper
Year: 2009
Grade: 4 pretzels
If you had asked me a year ago to make a list of artists who probably had solo careers in their future, Interpol’s Paul Banks wouldn’t even make the “honorable mentions” section. Yet, here he is, releasing an album under the moniker Julian Plenti (it’s supposed to be some Eurotrash thing…don’t ask). The timing for this solo album feels very strange, being that Interpol have supposedly spent the past few months recording their upcoming fourth album. They’ve also been somewhat sapped creatively as of late, with their three existing albums showing a slow drop-off in quality. It’s into this environment that Banks drops the grammatically puzzling Julian Plenti Is…Skyscraper.
There are two things that immediately jump out when you listen to this album. They are A) how much these songs sound like Interpol and B) how much these songs DON’T sound like Interpol. Stay with me, here. Skyscraper’s songs sound like messages from some alternative timeline, where Interpol’s music was slightly warped with the inclusion of piano and a few subtle electro-flavored touches. But it’s still undeniably Interpol. Confused yet? Just listen to “Fun That We Had”, which behaves like an Interpol song…until it doesn’t. Just…listen to the track, everything will make more sense then, I promise.
Anyway. The bottom line about Skyscraper is that it’s undeniably better than the past two Interpol albums. It still isn’t a return to the textured, nocturnal beauty that made Interpol famous on 2002’s Turn On The Bright Lights, but at least the songs are catchy, well-crafted and don’t do incredibly predictable things. The album’s rockers still have the chunky, meaty guitar sound that has defined Interpol as of late, but there’s a whole other side to the album that Interpol’s material has only hinted at. The spiky moodiness of “Girl On The Sporting News” is a welcome addition to Camp Interpol, while the acoustic guitar twirling of “On The Esplanade” and the album’s title track are completely new ground for Banks. Hopefully some of these sounds will find their way onto the new Interpol album.
The album’s most stunning moments tend to come whenever Banks brings piano into the mix. “Madrid Song” is beautiful and solemn, while the closing mostly instrumental “H” is a lovely, ominous ending to the album. Throughout Skyscraper, Banks’ unshakably deadpan voice and bizarre lyrical turns (“but I was to save you when you were repeatness”…HUH?!) are as present as they ever have been, but the slightly off-the-wall music provides a better match. Ultimately, Skyscraper is a bit too stark to feel like the beginning of a great solo career for Banks, but it definitely shines the light on some new paths his band could follow.
There are two things that immediately jump out when you listen to this album. They are A) how much these songs sound like Interpol and B) how much these songs DON’T sound like Interpol. Stay with me, here. Skyscraper’s songs sound like messages from some alternative timeline, where Interpol’s music was slightly warped with the inclusion of piano and a few subtle electro-flavored touches. But it’s still undeniably Interpol. Confused yet? Just listen to “Fun That We Had”, which behaves like an Interpol song…until it doesn’t. Just…listen to the track, everything will make more sense then, I promise.
Anyway. The bottom line about Skyscraper is that it’s undeniably better than the past two Interpol albums. It still isn’t a return to the textured, nocturnal beauty that made Interpol famous on 2002’s Turn On The Bright Lights, but at least the songs are catchy, well-crafted and don’t do incredibly predictable things. The album’s rockers still have the chunky, meaty guitar sound that has defined Interpol as of late, but there’s a whole other side to the album that Interpol’s material has only hinted at. The spiky moodiness of “Girl On The Sporting News” is a welcome addition to Camp Interpol, while the acoustic guitar twirling of “On The Esplanade” and the album’s title track are completely new ground for Banks. Hopefully some of these sounds will find their way onto the new Interpol album.
The album’s most stunning moments tend to come whenever Banks brings piano into the mix. “Madrid Song” is beautiful and solemn, while the closing mostly instrumental “H” is a lovely, ominous ending to the album. Throughout Skyscraper, Banks’ unshakably deadpan voice and bizarre lyrical turns (“but I was to save you when you were repeatness”…HUH?!) are as present as they ever have been, but the slightly off-the-wall music provides a better match. Ultimately, Skyscraper is a bit too stark to feel like the beginning of a great solo career for Banks, but it definitely shines the light on some new paths his band could follow.
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