| El Pintor is decent but it's not nearly as good as many of the reviews indicate in my opinion, especially AV Club's. This album is nowhere near worthy of anything north of 85/100.rI don't think any of the songs have the grove and complementary guitar driving qualities of tunes like 'Obstacle 1' or 'PDA', that was heavily influenced by The Chameleons. Maybe less reverb and a more raw production would bring them out more. I don't want them to repeat themselves but do miss those qualities and I think that's what made TOTBL such an amazing album.rThe bass lines aren't that interesting compared to TOTBL and not enough, in my humble opinion, for Interpol guitarist Daniel and drummer Sam to talk it up to the extent that they have in some interviews.rEl Pintor is a guitar album but something about the opening guitar lines to "My Desire" and "Same Town, New Story" feel like they should be secondary guitar parts and not the main intro to the song. They feel a bit too empty to drive a song, and honestly feel a bit like noodling around. ('Same Town, New Story')rThe overuse of reverb throughout much of the album, especially on Banks' vocals, makes it feel a bit too produced.rSome of it, like "Breaker 1", I don't care for at all |
