The Back Room (CD - 2005)

US post-punk revivalists Interpol's 2002 debut made it possible for a wave of Joy Division copycats to ape those dark-but-danceable sounds of the late-1970s/early-'80s. By 2004, coming off like the bastard offspring of Ian Curtis and Echo & the Bunnymen was a ticket to the top of the charts, even in America. Unsurprisingly, it took the Brits to do it right. The hue and cry over Editors (please observe the absence of an article in their name) and their 2005 launch THE BACK ROOM (released stateside in '06) painted them as the UK Interpol. Nothing could be further from the truth. While Editors display an obvious love for the dark, churning sound of the Chameleons, Joy Division, et al, there's not even a whiff of bandwagon-jumping here. The level of emotional commitment is so palpable, the singing so impassioned, the songwriting so sharp, and the playing so urgent and visceral, that there's no question about the band's sincerity. minimize