Prosaics

Even though Matador is one of the biggest indie labels on the planet, it's managed to maintain an aesthetic agenda that's had everything to do with integrity and diversity, and little to do with cheap attempts at cashing in. But now, flush with the Top 20 success of Interpol, the imprint has crassly snagged the first convincing Interpol ripoff to come along: Prosaics. The parallels are too numerous to be coincidental. Both groups are from New York City, and both traffic in the exact same old-wave retread of Joy Division and the Cure. And although this five-song disc is on Dim Mak Records in the U.S., it's being released by Matador everywhere else and will soon be followed by a Matador full-length. Which begs the question: With its hallowed reputation, not to mention an impressive roster of such wide-ranging acts as Cat Power, Dead Meadow, Matmos and Pretty Girls Make Graves, why on earth would Matador sign a grade-B Interpol? The answer is as obvious as it is pathetic.