Interpol have always been pleasingly out of step with their time—sticking to their guns (and guitars) with a clean, New Wave-tinged sound throughout the past decade—and perpetually stylish with it, prone to velvet jackets, ties, waistcoats, and lots and lots of black. Formed in New York City in the late 90s the band’s terse drums and icy, reverb-laden guitars placed them neatly into the post-punk revival bracket. After recently parting ways with bassist and founding member Carlos Dengler, the band is now a trio comprised of Paul Banks (vocals, guitar), Daniel Kessler (guitar) and Sam Fogarino (drums), with post-rock luminary David Pajo (Slint, Papa M) replacing Dengler for their upcoming tour. Their self-titled fourth album, released next week by Matador, embraces a more diverse palette of sound than ever before, with jazzy piano flourishes peppering trademark glacial guitars on “Memory Serves,” and urgent, unsettling strings obscuring the message on “Always Malaise.” Given the band’s history of bold sartorial statements, we thought we’d celebrate the new album by dressing them up in snappy looks from this fall’s Prada menswear collection, the result being today’s photo story, shot by Time and GQ contributor Ryan Pfluger in Transmitter Park, Greenpoint, Brooklyn. We also caught up with Interpol’s drummer Sam Fogarino. Read the interview here.
Styling Sara Moonves
Grooming Suzy Gerstein