Turn On the Bright Lights
Studio album by Interpol
Released	August 19, 2002
Recorded	November 2001
Studio	Tarquin (Bridgeport, Connecticut)
Genre	Indie rock post-punk revival
Length	49:02
Label	Matador
Producer	Gareth Jones Peter Katis
Interpol chronology
Interpol (2002) Turn On the Bright Lights (2002) The Black EP (2003)
Singles from Turn On the Bright Lights
"PDA" Released: August 22, 2002 "Obstacle 1" Released: November 11, 2002 "Say Hello to the Angels" / "NYC" Released: April 14, 2003

Turn On the Bright Lights is the debut studio album by Americanrock bandInterpol. It was released in the United Kingdom on August 19, 2002, and in the United States the following day, throughindependent record labelMatador Records.^[1] The album was recorded in November 2001 at Tarquin Studios inBridgeport, Connecticut, and was co-produced,mixed andengineered byPeter Katis andGareth Jones. The title derives from a recurring lyric in the song "NYC".^[2]

Upon release, the record peaked at No. 101 on theUK Albums Chart. It reached No. 158 on theBillboard 200 in the United States, as well as spending 73 weeks on theBillboard Independent Albums chart, peaking at No. 5.^[3] The songs "PDA", "Obstacle 1" and the double A-side single "Say Hello to the Angels" / "NYC" were released as singles, with music videos being shot for all except "Say Hello to the Angels".

This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding missing information.(October 2024)

In a brief interview about the fifteenth anniversary ofTurn On the Bright Lights, Interpol guitaristDaniel Kessler stated the album's opening track, "Untitled" was written specifically to open the band's live shows. Lead singerPaul Banks described the riff from the song as "signature Daniel".^[4]

The release ofTurn On the Bright Lights was preceded by the marketing of the band's self-titledEPInterpol in June 2002, their first release forMatador. The EP contained three tracks:radio single "PDA", future single "NYC", and "Specialist". All three tracks later appeared on the album, with "Specialist" included as a bonus track in Australian and Japanese editions. Further promotion continued at the beginning of the following year, when the band played the 2003NME Awards Tour alongsidethe Datsuns,the Polyphonic Spree andthe Thrills.^[5] The song "PDA" is featured as a playable track in 2008 video gameRock Band 2.^[6]

In 2012, aremastered edition ofTurn On the Bright Lights was issued to commemorate the album's tenth anniversary. The release featured a range of additional material, including earlydemo recordings, bonus tracks previously exclusive to international editions, and a DVD containing live performances and music videos.^[7] It also introduced five previously unreleased tracks from the band's “Third Demo” sessions, providing further insight into the development of the album's sound during its formative period.^[8]

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[9]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[10]
Entertainment Weekly	A−[11]
Houston Chronicle	[12]
Los Angeles Times	[13]
NME	8/10[14]
Pitchfork	9.5/10[15]
Record Collector	[16]
Rolling Stone	[17]
Slant Magazine	[18]
The Village Voice	C+[19]

Turn On the Bright Lights was released to critical acclaim. The album holds a score of 81 out of 100 from the aggregate siteMetacritic based on 21 reviews, indicating universal acclaim.^[9] Contemporary reviews of the album often noted Interpol's influences and drew comparisons to several other acts.^[7] Michael Chamy ofThe Austin Chronicle cited "melodicPeter Hook-like basslines; the divineshoegazer textures ofMy Bloody Valentine andRide; a peppy,Strokes-like bounce; and a singer who's a dead ringer forIan Curtis."^[20] "It's almost as if Ian Curtis never hanged himself," beganBlender's review, with critic Jonah Weiner adding that Paul Banks' vocals echoed Curtis' "gloomy moan."^[21]

NME's Victoria Segal argued that the album's "ashen atmospherics" made comparisons toJoy Division both "obvious and unmistakable," while praising Interpol's take on the "grey‑skinned British past."^[14]Billboard wrote that Interpol had created an "homage to their particular vision of the '80s that stands proudly alongside the best of its idols."^[22] Scott Seward, writing inThe Village Voice, remarked that while he appreciated the band because they evoked "eating bad bathtub mescaline in the woods and listening toCure singles," he sarcastically acknowledged that others "might like them for completely different reasons."^[23]

Noel Murray ofThe A.V. Club opined that Interpol's virtue "lies in the way its music unfurls from pinched openings to wide-open codas",^[24] whileRob Sheffield ofRolling Stone wrote that their "sleek, melancholy sound is a thing of glacial beauty."^[17] Eric Carr ofPitchfork argued that the band had forged their own distinct sound, "a grander, more theatrical atmosphere with lush production that counters their frustrated bombast", praisingTurn On the Bright Lights as "one of the most strikingly passionate records I've heard this year."^[15] However,The Village Voice'sRobert Christgau, naming it "Dud of the Month" in hisConsumer Guide column, felt that Interpol "exemplify and counsel disengagement, self-seeking, a luxurious cynicism," downplaying Joy Division comparisons as "too kind".^[19]Q's lukewarm assessment of the album described it as "predictably claustrophobic listening".^[25]

By the end of 2002,Turn On the Bright Lights featured on several publications' end-of-year lists, includingPitchfork, who named it the best album of the year,^[26]NME, who ranked it at No. 10,^[27] andStylus Magazine, who ranked it at No. 5.^[28] The album placed at No. 15 onThe Village Voice's year-endPazz & Jop critics' poll.^[29]

Hailed as a seminal album of the 2000s,^{[30][31][32][33][34][35]}Turn On the Bright Lights has been cited as an influence on manyindie rock bands, includingthe Killers,^[36]Editors,^[37][38]the xx,^[39]the Organ,^[40]She Wants Revenge,^[41] and others to the extent that many of these bands have been disparagingly referred to as "Interpol clones".^[42] Closely associated with9/11-eraNew York City,^[43] the album has been seen as helping define 2000s indie rock, and Interpol have been cited as helping usher in the New York-bornpost-punk revival scene, along with contemporaries such as the Strokes,Yeah Yeah Yeahs, andTV on the Radio.^[44]

Summing up the album's impact in a review of its 2012reissue, Matt LeMay ofPitchfork wrote: "Suggesting that this album is simply a product of its time and place is no less naive than suggesting that anyone who has ever been in love could easily write, arrange and record an amazing love song. There were a lot of good bands in New York in 2002, but only one band made this record."^[7]

In 2017, the band embarked on aworldwide tour to celebrate the album's album's 15th anniversary.^[45]

In a 2018 interview withVice, Paul Banks stated:

"as far as ease of making it, we had years to write these songs. The longest writing period of any of your records is your debut. We formed in 1997, so it's five years, and three-and-a-half/four of playing shows and trying out that material. So it went down smoothly in the studio, and then you have all the excitement of it being your first album. It was a good time in our lives."^[46]

DrummerSam Fogarino reflected on the album by saying:

"we were very naïve, we didn’t know how to make a record together, and we were lucky to have a good snapshot taken of who we were at the time. And we got a little more confident with every record."^[47]

Accolades forTurn On the Bright Lights

Publication	Accolade	Rank
Pitchfork	Top 100 Albums 2000–2004	3[48]
Pitchfork	Top 200 Albums of the 2000s	20[49]
Stylus	Top 50 Albums 2000–2005	6[50]
Stylus	Top 100 Albums of the 2000s	20[51]
NME	100 Greatest Albums of the Decade	8[52]
NME	500 Greatest Albums of All Time	130[53]
Rolling Stone	100 Best Albums of the Decade	59[54]
Under the Radar	Top 200 Albums of the Decade	3[55]
Beats Per Minute	Top 100 Albums of the Decade	7[56]
Lost At Sea	2000–2009: Albums of the Decade	13[57]
The Irish Times	Top 20 Albums of the Decade	10[58]
Consequence of Sound	Top 100 Albums of the Decade	35[59]
The Guardian	100 Best Albums of the 21st Century	50[60]

Tenth Anniversary Edition bonus DVD

Interpol

• Paul Banks – vocals, rhythm guitar
• Daniel Kessler – lead guitar, vocals on "PDA"
• Carlos D – bass guitar, keyboards
• Samuel Fogarino – drums,percussion

Audio engineers

• All songs recorded byPeter Katis at Tarquin Studios
• All songs mixed at Tarquin Studios
• Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 9, 10 mixed by Peter Katis
• Tracks 3, 6, 8, 11 mixed byGareth Jones
• Mastered byGreg Calbi at Sterling Sound

Design

• Sean McCabe – photography, design
• Andrew Zaeh – photography

• Album era

• Turn On the Bright Lights atMetacritic
• Turn On the Bright Lights atMusicBrainz (list of releases)

• 2002 debut albums
• Interpol (band) albums
• Matador Records albums
• Albums produced by Peter Katis
• Albums produced by Gareth Jones (music producer)

• CS1: unfit URL
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from April 2020
• Articles with hAudio microformats
• Articles to be expanded from October 2024
• All articles to be expanded
• Album chart usages for France
• Album chart usages for Scotland
• Album chart called without artist
• Album chart called without album
• Album chart usages for UKIndependent
• Album chart usages for Billboard200
• Album chart usages for BillboardIndependent
• Certification Table Entry usages for Mexico
• Pages using certification Table Entry without certification
• Certification Table Entry usages for United Kingdom
• Certification Table Entry usages for United States
• Certification Table Entry usages for unsupported region
• MusicBrainz release group same as Wikidata
• Articles with MusicBrainz release group links