El Pintor review – Interpol deliver coiled riffs and sonorous vocals

"Ooh, fuck the ancient ways," begins El Pintor's Ancient Ways, suggesting that Interpol's first album as a trio (following the exit of bassist Carlos Dengler) marks an audacious departure from the past. In fact, their fifth set isn't dissimilar to 2002's Turn on the Bright Lights, all coiled, icy riffs and sonorous vocals. There are precious few real surprises, then, but that's not a problem when, as on Tidal Wave and current single All the Rage Back Home, Paul Banks's band craft songs that are jagged, dark yet unashamedly populist.