We Spies.

Hey hey hey.  Couple things right off the bat.  First up, go get some free music courtesy of Amazon.  They’ve got a nice little 11 song sampler from legendary indie label Sub Pop that includes tunes from Flight of the Conchords, Red Red Meat, Fleet Foxes, and Iron & Wine among others.  Check it out right here.  Also, the first single from the upcoming Heaven & Hell album The Devil You Know (which drops April 28th) is out and is great.  The tune’s called “Bible Black” and I’ll probably embed the vid here sometime in the future, but in the meantime go have a listen.  No dudes that age should sound that evil.  Awesome.  In other cool older dude news, it seems that Sammy Hagar’s put together a bit of a supergroup, if you will (and you probably shouldn’t), called Chickenfoot that includes fellow Van Halen castaway Michael Anthony on Jack Daniels, alien surfer Joe Satriani on guitar, and Red Hot Ogre look alike Chad Smith on drums.  Did I mention the band’s called Chickenfoot?  You can read more here.

Now then.  It’s dawned on me that I don’t believe I’ve mentioned Interpol once on this blog.  And I really like Interpol.  And I haven’t listened to them in quite awhile.  So that’s getting remedied right now, compadres.  This is “Slow Hands” from the excellent 2004 album Antics:

Interpol’s an interesting band.  For starters, look at those clothes!  Bands have worn suits and ties before Interpol, but I’m not sure anyone else has done it so smartly as to have it move beyond a simple gimmick.  It’s terribly pretentious, mind you, but the band has committed to it so much that by this point it doesn’t really strike me as being entirely forced.  Seriously, I saw the band play an outdoor venue in 90 degree heat and they didn’t remove so much as a cufflink.  These guys make an effort to look good, and I suppose that appeals to the side of me that so greatly appreciated the similar (but different) effort the guys in Britny Fox and Firehouse made to look good back in the late ’80’s.  The only thing that’s changed really is the definition of “good,” thankfully.  If you’re a kid living in a one Wal-Mart town in the middle of Nebraska, how could you not be intrigued by seeing these sharp lads who are so cool they don’t even wear t-shirts? Interpol offers a sophisticated type of escapism in the image they sell and fortunately it accompanies the music they write quite nicely.  Also fortunate is the fact that they just so happen to write really good music, too.  That, as always, is the key.  Here’s the first Interpol song I ever heard, “PDA” from 2002’s debut album Turn on the Bright Lights:

I’ve always felt there was a layer of darkness (for lack of a better word) in Interpol’s music but that’s not to say they’re in anyway a depressing listen.  Lines like “gonna trek this shit around” or song titles like “No I in Threesome” show that there’s a sense of humor present behind the aviator shades.  And then there are moments, like the “Untitled” opener of Bright Lights where the band makes sounds that could almost best be described as “pretty.”  They’ve taken their fair share of criticism for aping Joy Division (at least vocally), but there are worst offenses in the world and I think that’s also something that becomes less evident as Interpol continues their career.  To take us out here’s “The Heinrich Maneuver” from 2007’s Our Love to Admire:

Cool.  Interpol’s apparently working on a new record and I know the drummer has some kind of side project and the bassist made some kind of indie film.  So they’re busy, which can only be a good thing.  More tomorrow…