Artist · chart history · #142 in alternative artist polls · #400 in indie & aaa artist polls
Interpol
Band New York United States Formed 1997 NYC rock band
Interpol formed in 1997 in New York, United States. Interpol has 213 chart appearances on 125 radio countdowns from 40 stations on RockLists, spanning 2002–2025. The most successful song on radio countdowns is “Slow Hands”, which appears on 39 lists with a best position of #10. The station that charted Interpol most often is CD101 (Columbus, OH), with 66 appearances. The artist’s biggest year on year-end countdowns was 2005.
Interpol came out of Manhattan in 1997, stone-faced and in love with the chilly grandeur of classic post-punk. Paul Banks sang and played rhythm guitar, Daniel Kessler played lead guitar, Carlos Dengler handled bass and keyboards, and Greg Drudy drummed until Sam Fogarino took over in 2000. They cut their teeth at the Luna Lounge alongside the Strokes, Longwave, the National and Stellastarr, and became one of the bands at the heart of the new New York indie scene and the post-punk revival.
The sound is instantly recognizable: Dengler's clipped, staccato bass, Kessler's and Banks's guitars interlocking in rhythmic, harmonized patterns, and a mix built around a snapping snare. Critics heard Joy Division, Television, the Chameleons, Echo & the Bunnymen and Siouxsie and the Banshees in it, but nobody else sounded quite like this. There's no single songwriter, either; everyone contributes. After early EPs that carried "PDA" and "NYC", the debut Turn On the Bright Lights in 2002 drew rapturous reviews, with "Obstacle 1" and "Untitled" setting a mood of urban melancholy and nervous elegance.
Antics in 2004 brightened the palette without losing the chill, and it made them bigger: "Slow Hands" and "Evil" have a danceable, driving pulse, with Banks's voice gliding over the top, and "C'mere" and "Narc" round out a record that is all poise and tension. Our Love to Admire followed in 2007 with "The Heinrich Maneuver", and both records brought them more critical and commercial success.
Dengler left in 2010, the year of the self-titled fourth album with "Barricade", and Banks took over bass in the studio for the next three records. The band took a break, then returned with El Pintor in September 2014, which gave us "All the Rage Back Home" and "Everything Is Wrong", Marauder in August 2018, The Other Side of Make-Believe in July 2022 and This Mirror Weighs a Ton on August 28, 2026. Anniversary tours played Turn On the Bright Lights in 2017 and Antics in 2024 in full. Longtime touring players Brandon Curtis and Brad Truax became official members in 2026. On rock radio's countdowns, "Slow Hands" and "Evil" still cut through.
Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.
Songs by Interpol on radio countdowns
| # | Song | Strength | Lists | Best | #1s | Peak year |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Slow Hands | 39 | #10 | – | 2004 | |
| 2 | Evil | 31 | #5 | – | 2005 | |
| 3 | Obstacle 1 | 21 | #18 | – | 2003 | |
| 4 | The Heinrich Maneuver | 19 | #18 | – | 2007 | |
| 5 | PDA | 21 | #29 | – | 2003 | |
| 6 | C'mere | 8 | #70 | – | 2005 | |
| 7 | Narc | 14 | #70 | – | 2005 | |
| 8 | All The Rage Back Home | 8 | #13 | – | 2014 | |
| 9 | NYC | 12 | #66 | – | 2004 | |
| 10 | Barricade | 11 | #50 | – | 2010 | |
| 11 | Everything Is Wrong | 4 | #42 | – | 2015 | |
| 12 | Untitled | 2 | #38 | – | – | |
| 13 | The Rover | 3 | #29 | – | 2018 | |
| 14 | No I in Threesome | 4 | #58 | – | 2007 | |
| 15 | Pioneer to the Falls | 1 | #226 | – | – | |
| 16 | If You Really Love Nothing | 2 | #58 | – | 2018 | |
| 17 | Something Changed | 1 | #39 | – | 2022 | |
| 18 | Next Exit | 1 | #497 | – | – | |
| 19 | Toni | 2 | #69 | – | 2022 | |
| 20 | Obstacle One | 3 | #1926 | – | – | |
| 21 | Lights | 1 | #98 | – | 2011 |
Albums with charting songs
Where each song was first released, from MusicBrainz.
Year-end chart timeline
Combined year-end countdown points per year. Taller bars mean more songs placing higher across more stations.
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