WXOU Album of the Week 1/8-1/14

Through all of 2024, here at WXOU we will have a new album spotlight-of-the-week. Be prepared for everything ranging from jazz fusion to black metal, indie rock to jazz rap. I hope you'll join me in indulging each album, whether it’s something you’ve never heard or a genre classic.

Courtesy of Interpol

Photo Courtesy of Interpol

Week 1

January 8th - January 14th

Interpol's "Turn on the Bright Lights"

Kicking the year off is Interpol's 2000's Indie Rock staple, "Turn on the Bright Lights", released in 2002. Interpol were among the likes of the UK's Libertines or fellow New Yorkers The Strokes, who were bringing the Post-punk sounds of the early eighties into the context of late 1990's indie and alternative. But where The Libertines, The Strokes, and The White Stripes built their sound around Stooges-esque Garage Rock and lo-fi aesthetics, Interpol created a lush and ethereal sound, creating a far greater sense of immersion.

Much of "Turn on the Bright Lights" lives in a strained balance of sarcasm, sharp guitars, and dark melodies. When the album isn't layering spacey keyboards over melodic guitar leads and downtrodden crooning like on "Leif Erikson", it's teetering on the edge of desperation, with tense vocals and rhythmic guitar stabs as on "Untitled" and "Obstacle 1".

Interpol's debut cemented the band within their own niche, and their combination of psychedelic atmospheres and contrastingly shimmering and sharp instrumentation served as a great influence on future acts, inspiring the likes of Franz Ferdinand and The Killers.