From Garth Brooks as Chris Gaines to Beyoncé Knowles as Sasha Fierce, the musical alter-ego has a long and pitiful history. Hell, even the incomparably awesome Ian F. Svenonius submitted the worst entry in his sprawling discography 'as' David Candy. Paul Banks, longtime frontman of super-moody New York style-mag rockers Interpol, is hoping to buck that trend, priming an LP under the name Julian Plenti.Entitled Julian Plenti is... Skyscraper, it's an album so named to put at least a couple of layers of between Banks and the audience; mostly so, you'd assume, you don't think this is Banks's solo singer-songwriter record. Listening to the first taste of Skyscraper, "Fun That We Have," it's clearly not Banks on acoustic guitar. With shards of suitably-Sumneresque guitar, keyboard oscillations, a hissing drum-machine rhythm, and multi-track'd Banks moans, it's a song that stalks stylishly through the shadows; sounding, in so many ways, like an Interpol demo might.
The album itself isn't due out —on Interpol's old label Matador— until August 4. Until then, do enjoy listening to Banks magnificently enunciate all five syllables of "telekinesis" as much as you please. Julian Plenti Is... Skyscraper Track List:
1. "Only If You Run"
2. "Fun That We Have"
3. "Skyscraper"
4. "Games for Days"
5. "Madrid Song"
6. "No Chance of Survival"
7. "Unwind"
8. "Girl on the Sporting News"
9. "On the Esplanade"
10. "Fly as You Might"
11. "H"
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