Album Review: Paul Banks - Banks

Paul Banks
Banks
Rating: Grrrr

I will admit to being a huge Interpol fan. I am one of the few people who like Our Love To Admire, and was essentially the sole reviewer who saw the brilliance in Interpol. But even I will admit that lately the band has felt like it was on auto-pilot; especially in the late period before bassist Carlos Dengler's departure, the humanity that always elevated their darkest moments just seemed on the verge of evaporating. Interpol still had some vestiges of the floundering Interpol, but seemed underneath to be kicking and screaming to bring the roaring machine back to life. I guess we won't know until a new Interpol record comes out whether this takes effect or whether the band is DOA, but based on Paul Banks' latest solo record (forgetting the mind-numbingly weird Julian Plenti alter-ego) there seems to be a definite spark of life occurring.

Kicking off with the lilting and gorgeous swirl of "The Base," Banks shows that while Interpol is not solely Paul Banks, he is definitely the glue that holds everything together. Not all of these tracks can be considered Interpol-lite though, you can see the push and pull Banks goes through and where he defaults to diplomacy with the others in the band. Banks is Paul Banks looser than he ever is, but always with the spectre of Interpol darkness in the background.



"Over My Shoulder" is likely the buzziest, jauntiest you will ever see Banks.



While "Arise, Awake" is gloriously moody, arising from delicate guitars over mechanical beats and surrounded by mournful strings.



The only time the album doesn't live up to expectations is when Banks either gets lazy with his songwriting, or his ideas get buried under clumbsy arrangements. The late album slog of instrumental with strange samples "Another Chance" just never goes anywhere, "Paid for That" stays on a one-note monotonous path, and the beginning of "I'll Sue You" feels like it is heading towards the same path before correcting itself midway through and going out on a high-note.

But the end of Banks rights itself strongly with the pop goodness of "No Mistakes" and the album closing brilliance of "Summertime Is Coming" which is likely one of Banks' best ever solo songs, and fits perfectly with his best Interpol work. The melody is delicate and lovely, and the ending of the song surprises and culminates in a wonderfully emotional moment.



Banks shows that Paul Banks still has some magic left in him from the early Interpol days, and that it just had been getting clouded a bit. Saddled without the weight of expectations that usually comes with an Interpol release, Banks takes a deep breath and feels more relaxed than he has in ages. While I am not sure this will transfer over to his work with his main band, we can all at least hope it does.

Rating Scale:

Chilfos: masterpiece; coolest thing I've heard in ages.

Woof Daddy: excellent; just a hair away from being a masterpiece.

Grrrr: very good; will definitely be considered for my top releases of the year.

Yeah Daddy Make Me Want It: good; definitely invites further listens and piques one's interest for more material.

Meh: not horrible, but certainly not great; could have either been polished, trimmed, or re-thought.

Jeez Lady: what the hell happened? Just plain bad. They should hang their heads in shame and be forced to listen to Lady Gaga ad nauseam as penance.

Tragicistani: so bad, armed villagers with pitchforks and torches should run the artist out of the country for inflicting this abomination on the human race.