FNBP: Dead Guy Ale & Interpol's Interpol (2010)

I have been a consistent advocate for Interpol for some time now. When they fire on all the right cylinders, they are (were) one of the best bands making music. The antithesis to that is, when they don't fire, they sound like an unenthusiastic and uncreatively monotone version of their previously awesome selves. Interpol, Interpol's 4th studio album (seriously, who self-titles their 4th album), sounds exactly as it should, and is decent, but falls squarely within the narrow fjord of sound and style that Interpol established prominently over their first two albums. Our Love To Admire, Interpol's 2007 release, established the "it worked before, let's do it again" attitude and Interpol sadly just extends that trend three years further with Interpol. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't enjoy some of the tracks on this album, such as "Barricade" and "The Undoing;" however, this album ventures very few steps beyond the inventiveness and effort that originally won over so many fans. Unfortunately, I say this as a legitimate fan. Has the band lost its spark, or do they simply not care as much? I hope it is the former so that the band marches on and continues to create inspiring music.

Nevertheless, Interpol will always have a special place in my heart, and in no small part due to delicious malted beverages. I was living in Santa Barbara and friends were in town visiting. After a jovial evening at the State Street bars we brought the party back to Chateau Nightrain for an  after-hours dance-off. After about 15 minutes of hot and heavy dance-offing, Interpol's "Slow Hands" came on. Rockin'. That's about the time when the neighbor from next door pounds on the door. Quickly I turn down the tunes, and answer the door with a "I'm really sorry... were we being too loud?" Clearly annoyed and in his jammies, the neighbor answered, "Yeah, really loud... It's 3:30 in the morning!" I quickly replied, "Sorry, I promise it won't happen again." To which the neighbor responded, "...wait... is that, uh, Interpol?!? I fucking love Interpol!" The tone of the conversation shifted and we all invited him to join the epic dance competition. Sadly, he declined. After that, we ended up being quite cordial. The moral: Delicious beer and Interpol brings people together and can potentially fix even the most unfixable problems.

With that in mind, for this Friday Night Beer Pairing (the Halloweekend edition—the darkest and sexiest of holidays), Interpol's dark and sexy music and haunting vocals pair well with Rogue's cryptically named Dead Guy Ale. DGA was originally developed as a tribute to the Mayan version of the Day of the Dead, also known as "All Souls Day." It is a German-style maibock with a spooky logo and plenty of flavor & kick. It has a slight citrus flavor with moderate hoppiness, and is a perfect end of the work week beverage. In fact, despite being dead, I actually don't feel bad for the logo's "dead guy" at all, because he has a whole keg of the stuff to enjoy. Good times for that man! In general, Dead Guy Ale is a pretty hip beer to have in the mini fridge next to your bed. Specifically for Halloweekend, Dead Guy Ale is the perfect beer to bust out at your adult gathering. With that, I leave you to enjoy your happy, and hopefully safe, Halloweekend. Stay dead my friends.