How Interpol's 'Obstacle 1' Pulls You in Immediately

Exploring why the intro riff of "Obstacle 1" by interpol is so neat and sets the scene for the song so well

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[spinolino]

i’m a simple man, i see interpol and i click

[Wakeofchaos]

There's a documentary partially about the development of this band and this album adjacent to The Strokes, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, LCD Soundsystem, Interpol, and a few others. Generally bands in the NYC local scene around this time. It's called "Meet Me in the Bathroom" and I'd highly recommend it for anyone that's a fan of this genre of sound.

Anyway in that documentary, it's mentioned that Interpol stayed in a cabin away from NYC for a while. They spent a majority of their savings to develop this record. I'd hypothesize that this main riff was just found through what "sounds good" and I'd speculate that many bands follow some degree of this sense and some theory but I'd explicitly consider that this riff specifically followed what sounded good to them at the time being that they'd have ample time to play and write but then again, theory could get you there too.

I'd also add that I can see that this video hasn't accrued many views and while that's sad, I'd also hypothesize that there is an audience for this kind of thing but your channel doesn't yet have the reach that it could through consistent uploads of this kind. Breaking down streams into smaller, more condensed vids is a sound strategy and one that I personally am hungry for. I'm certain that I'm not alone in this. I just also wonder how many people understand theory enough to garner any information from something a little more advanced. Perhaps a quick theory lesson could help? Idk either way I'm growing to be a big fan of yours so I fully support whatever you decide to do with this channel. Thanks for the cool video!

[claytonbigsby]

Excellent analysis, makes sense as to why I haven't been able to stop listening to this song for days. Such a fascinating song harmonically

[urcurlydawg]

One of the best songs I've ever heard

[The_austinmiller]

4:22 I was waiting for this from the second you mentioned whether it COULD be an inversion

[Poetslove]

Matty you do a great job of showing the contrapuntal aspects of non classical music IE the VERTICAL and the horizontal points in the music. People hear counterpoint and instantly think of Bach and fugues but lots of music has aspects of counterpoint in it and you do a great job of showing that.

[schlafzimmersessions]

I really enjoyed re-watching your livestreams as well as your breakdowns on The Adults are Talking and Obstacle 1! Keep up the great work, Matty!! 👏🙂👍

[Renav]

Awesome!!!! I've been waiting for years for a video like this

[somerandomguy]

Great video and explanation! Obstacle 1 is probably my favorite song ever and I was very confused when I tried to learn it on guitar how the whole song strums its tonic chord almost during the entire song yet it still has tension and release

[michaels]

Love this my man! Love your streams, your shorts, and your vids. These bands are my bands. And you are the master of them. I have infinite respect in the world for you. Thank you for bringing these bands to some kind of public attention.

[simoneh]

More interpol!! Liking the new shorter more targeted format too.

[reubenrozeyt]

Paul got my attention how he sang
"Make playing only *logical* harm"

[aphextwinning]

Lmao I showed this song to my brother and he instant start singing "since you been gone." I love this song to death but I can never unhear that.

[pringelsthegamefreak]

One thing that I find interesting is if you play this riff slowly, it does sound dark and muddy. Even though there's a major chord, it feels somber, along with the tone of the song, being about the death of a model.

[UndertaleFan-cxmc]

6 seconds broken down into 6 minutes
Congratulations, Interpol

[victorroa]

Love your content so much dude! What kind of guitar is that?

[Ducic]

For me it is the bass guitar and bass drum synergy from the first verse till the end

[thomsleftbollock]

the riff in this always reminds me of blueprint by fugazi

[justinromani]

Love the breakdowns! Would you ever consider doing a video on Don't Fall by The Chameleons?

[cameronblaylock]

love u for this, but not bringing up the bassline is a huge war crime!