Muzz - Muzz review: Paul Banks's drowsy, occasionally lovely but frustrating side project

If someone swapped Interpol’s morning coffee for Night Nurse, they’d get something like Muzz — a drowsy, occasionally lovely but ultimately frustrating side project from the band’s frontman Paul Banks.

He’s joined here by Bonny Light Horseman multi-instrumentalist Josh Kaufman and The Walkmen’s drummer Matt Barrick — a supergroup of sorts with alt-rock credibility to spare.

Sparse, reverb-heavy opener Bad Feeling has all of the misanthropic brooding of Interpol’s glory days, albeit without the motorik beats and interlocking guitars. It sets the mood for the entire album, which quickly settles into a groove of confessional, crepuscular slow burners, augmented with subtle brass arrangements.

Interesting textures help to elevate some of the tracks, and Broken Tambourine shows off Banks’s baritone at its most vulnerable and affecting. The graceful Evergreen is a highlight, peppered with junk shop organs and direct, heartwarming songwriting. But there’s a real lack of urgency and intensity to some of the songs which makes for a sapping listen at times.

The melancholic strides of Red Western Sky and Knuckleduster are as lively as things get, while tracks like Chubby Checker and Summer Love are sedate almost to the point of nodding off.