Paul Banks: “The Base”

There’s really only one reason we, or anyone, are talking about this new track from croak-crooner Paul Banks. That reason is Interpol’s 2002 debut Turn on the Bright Lights, a stunning, shimmery ode to night life and glowering perversion that struck many, including your humble reviewer, as the second coming of a slinkier, sexier Joy Division. As Interpol’s lead singer and main songwriter, Banks was hailed as a craftsman and as a performer — his vocal similarity to Ian Curtis only adding to his odd, ghostly charisma. Bright Lights sounded like it could be the beginning of something important. But alas, it was not. 2004’s Antics, despite being a worthy follow-up containing at least a half-dozen first-rate tracks, arrived a bit worse for wear. On Our Love to Admire (2007), and especially on Interpol (2010), Banks and company sounded increasingly like a group who were running out of ideas and growing more stagnant. Having once inspired intense fandom and dedication, they were, by late in the decade, considered merely OK. The last few years have seen the loss of the band’s best musician and most recognizable personality (bassist Carlos D), a deep decline in record/ticket sales, and an indefinite hiatus last year.

So here comes Paul Banks, back with something weird. This should be a good sign. We’ve rarely heard him away from his bandmates, who made critical contributions to composition and arrangements on the Interpol albums. So hearing “The Base” open with a farty drum machine and noodley guitar phrase is heartening. Perhaps Banks will be trying something outside of his usual gloomy template? But unfortunately it quickly becomes clear that this is pretty much the same old thing with new bells and whistles. The vocals are in his usual deep-nasal-zombie style, the verses don’t have much of a melody, and the hook is merely serviceable. Add to that some bizarre touches (Prince-ish funk breakdown? Paul Banks singing falsetto?) and lazy song construction and you have a deeply disjointed, if not altogether horrible, track.