The Paranoid Style
The Interrogator
Bar None
The Interrogator is the most thought-provoking album I’ve listened to in a long time.
There are sly references to rock predecessors, like the Nick Lowe song “I Love the Sound of Breaking Glass” in their song “I Love the Sound of Structured Class.” The band’s name is a reference to the 1964 essay by historian Richard J. Hofstadter, “The Paranoid Style in American Politics.” All the brainy stuff makes more sense when you realize that the band’s leader, Elizabeth Nelson, is an accomplished writer who contributes to The New York Times Magazine, The Washington Post, and The Oxford American. She writes about music, politics, film, and sports for these elite publications. She’s also one hell of a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist.
Nelson says that the sound for The Interrogator was inspired by ZZ Top’s Eliminator album, citing the band’s fusing of New Wave production to Texas boogie. I can kind of see that. The band’s music is rooted in classic garage rock sounds with immaculate production. There is a very spontaneous feel to The Interrogator, and all the instruments are given room to breathe. Newest member and former leader of the dB’s Peter Holsapple lays down tasteful guitar leads that never overshadow his bandmates.
The Interrogator is one of those rare releases where there are no weak cuts. Nelson rattles off her lyrics at a lightning pace in a sing/talk cadence. Each song is packed with literary, political, and historical references, inside jokes, and rock and roll puns. How can you not like a song titled “Are You Loathsome Tonight?” I could spend time analyzing and praising every song on the album. You probably don’t have the time or stamina for that, so I’ll just pick a few examples to illustrate my point.
“I Love the Sound of Structured Class” is a standout track, though I’m not sure what a structured class sounds like. Elizabeth sings about life and people trying to impose their will on her. I love it when she sings, “I’ve spent time in education / I’ve spent time in jail / I’ve drunk from the river basin / I have skied in Vail / Time in capsules, Vitamin C / Everybody knows this is nowhere but me.” Bonus points here for Holsapple’s tasty guitar solo.
“The Ballad of Pertinent Information (Turn It On)” is not a ballad in the traditional sense. It doesn’t tell a story like old English ballads, and it’s not anything like a syrupy rock power ballad. The chorus of sorts is a call and response that doesn’t explain anything but leaves you with a sense that something’s just not right. Elizabeth sings (and responds): “Turn it on (I’ve got some things you’ll want to see) / Turn it on (I have monitored ecstasy) / Turn it on (I have tampered with the occasional witness) / Turn it on (I’m not in the pleasure business) / Turn it on (I want access to everything) / Turn it on (From the dawn of man to the final gathering)….”
The final song I’m going to single out is “The Return of the Molly Maguires.” I just can’t resist the idea of an Irish, 19th Century secret society resurrecting itself from the coalfields of Pennsylvania to help the working people. The lyrics themselves reference the Molly Maguires helping the people living in the mine’s company towns (where workers were paid in scrip only good at the company store) in the late 1800s. It’s not a pretty chapter in American history, but one more people should know about.
I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. I really like The Interrogator, and I think you might as well.
