Album Review : Julian Plenti - Julian Plenti Is ... Skyscraper
- Written by David Lichfield
With their choppy basslines, monotone vocal delivery, acerbic guitar lines and industrial drumming, it didn't take more than a few years for Interpol's formula to become rather rigid. Additionally, it would only be a couple of albums before the poppier Editors came out of the woodwork armed with a similiar set of reference points thus stealing their post-punk thunder to the point whereby comparisions between the two were wearisome.
In this context, it is something of a relief that Paul Banks has chosen to flex some experimental muscle as Julian Plenti before album #4, which should hopefully reinvigorate the underachieving quartet. Where previous Interpol albums were high on melodrama, they were somewhat short of cheesy trumpet motifs, Morse Code and kindly acoustic arpeggios. This is not to say that the album doesn't contain some obvious Interpol retreads.
As is the case with many a solo project, 'Games for Days' is disposable rehash of Banks' bandmates previous triumphs, whilst opener 'Only If You Run' is the warmer older brother of 'Rest My Chemistry', the bland call-to-arms-for-cokeheads that took pride of place on 2007's opinion-dividing Our Love To Admire. Elsewhere, ... Skyscraper inhabits a fine line between solo album self-indulgence and minor innovation. Where 'Fun That We Have' incorporates lo-fi drum loops, schizophrenic tempo changes and typical Banks lyrics ('I wasn't reading with my telekinesis'), the solemn piano of 'Madrid Song' is a welcome change of direction after the towering predictability of 'Games'. Meanwhile, the refined reductivism characterising 'No Chance Survival' precedes 'Unwind's smirk-inducing trumpets , which could easily be mistaken for a flimsy Killers pisstake were it not for some incongruous filtered vocal effects.
Much of the album's second half is preoccupied with the flattest sort of navel-gazing not readily associated with Banks. The appeal of 'Girl On The Sporting News' and 'On the Esplanade' may well reveal itself in time, but at the point of writing, this section of the album remains unremarkable. '...Skyscraper' concludes with a hypnotic 'H', a cyclic piano refrain complete with heavily reverberated continental speech, but not before 'Fly As You Might', one of only three or four Interpol imitations.
All in all, ... Skyscraper has to be taken on it's own terms, and possibly given time, to be fully appreciated. Those expecting another Turn On the Bright Lights should look away now, whilst those intruigued by the brief change of direction hinted at towards the climax of Our Love To Admire should investigate further. Inessential, but a more eclectic offering than the day job.