The Teeth Marks Of Time

Interpol “No I In Threesome” – I wish the intro of this song was a bit longer, maybe another 30-40 seconds. The opening moments sets up a rather interesting and deliberately cinematic theme that could carry an entire track, but it gets immediately sidelined by the main body of the piece. That’s not an entirely bad thing — aside from the too-brief intro segment, “No I In Threesome” is perhaps the most fully realized and sophisticated composition in Interpol’s discography, or at least on par with previous highlights such as “Evil,” “Not Even Jail,” and “NYC.” The thing that’s difficult to understand is why the rest of the tracks on Our Love To Admire seem so tossed-off and forgettable in comparison. Did the group put all of its effort into this one cut? It could be. Whereas the other tracks on the album come off muddy and indistinct, “Threesome” is graceful and dynamic, gently drawing the listener through sections that balance a nervous tension with a sort of creepy, self-absorbed sexuality that is borne out in Paul Banks’ lyrics.

Though previous Interpol songs have hinted at the follies of its dim hipster protagonists, this one is most successfully in drawing out a specific scenario rather than imply a character with a loose, cryptic lyrical sketch. Banks’ character here is most certainly an opportunistic creep, but the implication is that he’s lacking in self-awareness. He proposes a threesome as a way of breathing new life into a dying relationship, but he’s really just trying to get his way, and introducing a scenario that might finally kill off a situation he’s too cowardly to abandon straight away. His logic is nonsensical, but you just know the manipulative bastard will get his way. (Click here to buy it from Amazon.)

Superthriller “I Love You” – Superthriller’s inarticulate, disingenuous declaration of love is a very thin joke, but it holds up well in a thumping, threadbare track that nods and winks in the general direction of soft pop and white boy R&B that works despite its self-conscious irony. If you’re sympathetic to its Lite FM signifiers, the song is a bit like eating an ice cream sundae in an air conditioned space on a hot, humid afternoon. Also, the “like Tom Cruise, but better” line is very funny, mainly because it’s hard to imagine who would still want to be that guy at this point in history. (Click here for the Superthriller MySpace page.)