Interpol, Bridezilla @ EnmoreTheatre, (4/01/2011)

Mon 10th Jan, 2011 in Gig Reviews

Taking opening duties for a band with a cult following and critical reputation as impressive as Interpol’s could be an intimidating challenge, but it’s not something that seems to daunt Bridezilla in the slightest. They’re now a familiar fixture on Sydney’s live scene, but I’m not close to getting sick of them. With ridiculously precocious singer Holiday Sidewinder’s smoky vocals surrounded by a thick and layered soundscape, they prove again they’re capable of conjuring up a heady atmosphere.

Interpol, of course, have made atmosphere their stock in trade. They like it dark. Their songs exist in some kind of permanent twilight, mapping out variations of paranoia and dread in a hundred different shades of grey. It’s fitting, then, that at one point singer Paul Banks requests that the stage lights not be quite so bright. Their gloomy aesthetic is evident from the opening chords of Success, which is built around threatening repetition, tension and a sense of uneasy restraint.

The tension is ratcheted up even further with the slow-building, brooding fan favourite Say Hello To the Angels and the typically moody Hands Away, the early stretch of the set suggesting they are not afraid to draw heavily from their first two records, which both rank amongst the very finest releases of the past decade. But the newer songs stand up surprisingly well alongside their more celebrated material – Memory Serves for instance, sounds genuinely epic.

While Banks’ commanding voice, seemingly drained of all emotion yet gripping and somehow passionate, is initially the most striking thing about Interpol, they’re uniformly gun players. The heartbeat drums on Take You On A Cruise are mesmeric and the krautrock-influenced rhythms that Daniel Kessler and new bassist David Pajo (of Slint and Papa M renown) are awesomely tight throughout. Collectively, they are a well-oiled machine, polished and poised.

While Interpol’s critical stocks have dipped somewhat lately, it would be difficult to identify a low point in tonight’s set. The chugging build-up and distinctive bassline of Evil sees the moshpit spring to life, Barricade is full of urgency and venom and Obstacle 1 pulls us in from its evocative opening line (“I wish I could eat the salt off of your lost faded lips”).

The encore sees Banks’ voice, perhaps a bit ragged at times, back to its icy best, leading the band through the funereal NYC and the dramatic The New. Proceedings end with Kessler wringing out a guitar solo at the end of Not Even Jail, drumsticks being thrown into the crowd and broad smiles from the surprisingly chipper Banks. It’s a strong end to a consistently strong set. Interpol remain formidable.