1) Only If You Run; 2) Fun That We Have; 3) Skyscraper;
4) Games For Days; 5) Madrid Song; 6) No Chance Survival; 7) Unwind; 8) Girl On
The Sporting News; 9) On The Esplanade; 10) Fly As You Might; 11) H.
General verdict: A surprisingly decent stab at a singer-songwriter
manifesto, though the lack of fresh ideas or attitudes blocks it from getting
any higher.
So, let us approach this as logically as
possible. «Julian Plenti» is really Paul Banks, whose full name is Paul Julian Banks
and who had actually already used this pseudonym in his pre-Interpol days when
he was still a solo acoustic player. Here, however, we also learn that Julian Plenti
is «Skyscraper». Later on, in the title track we hear Paul Banks / Julian Plenti
sing "shake me, shake me, skyscraper", literally implying that Paul Banks
/ Julian Plenti / Skyscraper is asking himself
to shake him, which does not make much sense. From here on, we might proceed to
the idea that Paul Banks, Julian Plenti, and Skyscraper are the same, yet not quite the same, in Holy Trinity mode: «Paul
Banks» is the Father hypostasis, «Julian Plenti» is the Son, and «Skyscraper»
the Holy Spirit. In that case, "shake me, skyscraper" should be taken
as an analogy to the moment where the Holy Spirit descends upon the Son right after
His baptism. See, weʼre getting into some truly serious shit here — and you
thought this was just a forgettable solo album.
Complex and controversial interpretations
aside, though, I must say that I was rather pleasantly surprised. The
uninteresting voice, unconvincing lyrics, and unmoving ego of Paul Banks have always
been one of the least attractive sides of Interpol — so a record where all
these things would be brought way up front seemed like a nightmare to begin
with. I did give it a chance nevertheless, and was surprised to find not a few
decent melodies and occasionally moving atmospherics. As an artistic
personality, «Julian Plenti» is really in no way different from the standard Interpol
frontman — similarly moody, morose, and detached, combining unrealised romantic
yearning with disillusioned cynicism on pretty much every track. But since he
can no longer hide behind the powerful shoulders of his bandmates, he tries to
compensate for this by adding extra elements of melody which, at the very
least, make the individual songs stand out from one another and not converge
into a single gray mass of moping.
These elements arenʼt particularly awesome or
original: thus, ʽOnly If You Runʼ, the albumʼs opening number, begins with a
painfully familiar intro riff (think the Yardbirdsʼ ʽHeart Full Of Soulʼ), then
becomes the Pixiesʼ ʽWhere Is My Mindʼ for a moment, and later on sort of
exploits the nagging one-note riff of Status Quoʼs ʽPictures Of Matchstick Menʼ
— hardly intentionally, but just to give you an idea of the neural activity of Paul
Banks / Julian Plenti / Skyscraper during the creative process. Yet it is not a
bad song: the decisive intonation of the lyrics combines quite nicely with the plodding
distorted bass line, and there is something truly genuine about how the final
stop is placed with "...and you will make it... but only if you run".
Moreover, the mix of instruments, in which the bass wail, the guitar jangle,
and the atmospheric synthesizers never overshadow each other, to me actually
seems more colorful than the majority of Interpol songs, though I do not qualify
this as anything other than a fleeting impression.
Several of the tracks are pure mood pieces,
whose main purpose seems to create an atmosphere of powerless self-empowerment —
ʽMadrid Songʼ, for instance, with its burning-embers feel and the endlessly
repeated "come have at us, we are strong", delivered in a rejectedly
dying voice; or the title track itself, one of the few here to give us a glimpse
of the original Julian Plenti (because
of the acoustic guitar track) while at the same time borrowing some ideas from
contemporary classical. I mean, it could possibly be confused with a Jonny Greenwood
soundtrack outtake, or taken for an exercise of a pop-minded Górecki disciple —
at the very least, it sounds nothing like an Interpol track, and given my usual
thoughts on Interpol, it is more of a compliment than a criticism. Though I certainly
cannot say to be a big fan of this minimalist brand, either.
Oddly enough, I think the soft ballads on this
album are better than Banksʼ attempts to rock out without his buddies — something
like ʽGames For Daysʼ is just a fairly generic indie-rock track with the same
kiddie-chainsaw-buzz as characterizes the least impressive Interpol tracks, but
something like ʽNo Chance Survivalʼ, seductively sharing its guitar tone with Radioheadʼs
ʽNo Surprisesʼ, has a somewhat unusual balance between instrumental and vocal
melody, generating a feeling of warmth and friendliness that, unfortunately, dissipates
once the song picks up steam and truly
begins to attempt sounding like a spaced-out outtake from OK Computer, but happily comes back at the end. ʽOn The Esplanadeʼ
is another highlight, though, given the similarity of the guitar patterns, I
think Iʼd rather hear it performed by Leonard Cohen (even if Paul Banks has a
long, long way to go to match Leonardʼs amazing word games).
In the end, it all boils down to limited talent
— the intelligence and ambition are there, but the spiritual energy of «Skyscraper»,
no matter how hard he shakes down Julian Plenti, just isnʼt enough to make this
whole thing qualify as a significant singer-songwriter achievement for the
2000s. It is perfectly listenable, though, and it almost makes me sad to see Banks
going from this semi-successful exercise to the musical platitudes that would
dominate Interpolʼs next album, but what is there to do? Apparently, Skyscraper
and Interpol really donʼt like each
other.
I think the skyscraper metaphor is a sexual one. Indeed, an erected cock as seen by someone looking at it upwards (that would be a typical position for oral sex) may give a skyscraper feeling. Now then shakig such a skyscraper would mean trying to sexually satisfy the person therefore the song is, sadly, about someone not able to come even when given all the possible pleasure and enjoyment (such behavior is typical for rock'n'roll swine)
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