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Paul Banks

Banks (Matador)

Reviewed by Luke Winkie, Fri., Nov. 2, 2012

Fun Fun Fun Fest Saturday Reviews

Paul Banks

Banks (Matador)

Paul Banks has had a rough go of it. Since Interpol's era-defining debut, 2002's Turn On the Bright Lights, the NYC luminary's career slowly disintegrated into unflattering irrelevance. Banks is a defiant title for an embattled songwriter, and he pulls it off. His second solo LP is stormy, jittery, and often memorable, just like the best of Interpol. Banks hasn't lost any of his antagonistic neurosis; he sues an angry lover on "I'll Sue You," before admitting he "doesn't need this anyway." Songs called "Another Chance," "No Mistakes," and "Young Again" are set to dark, swirling guitar music, pierced with nervous laptop beats and blasts of bleached synthesizer. At 34, Paul Banks writes bitter adolescent songs, and his namesake proves he still makes it sound true. (Sat., Orange stage, 5:15pm)

**.5

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