Interpol @ O2 Academy, Edinbugh, 31 May

Water From Your Eyes, a duo of divisive indie darlings, are a slightly odd fit for an Interpol support slot. They only have live guitar and vocals, with backing tracks filling in the gaps, but the music is still reasonably sparse, with Rachel Brown's speak-sing style brought out in sharp contrast against the spiky guitar lines of Nate Amos. The rock purists are quick to voice distaste, but the odd heckle is shouted down. Their new album, Everyone's Crushed, is excellent, but the translation to live performance is still a little shaky – perhaps even antagonistic to some by playing the bombastic True Life and then closing with the ponderous 14 – but full of promise.

Interpol, by comparison, are a slickly polished affair (much like Paul Banks' hair these days). From moment one (Toni) the bright lights are firmly turned on – a sea of epileptic reds and whites all night. Banks' nasally croon occasionally cracks when fighting against the powerful arrangements, but he holds his own. It's best served in more unadorned moments like when the instruments drop out on Pioneer to the Falls or when he gets snarly (on Narc, Roland etc.).

Daniel Kessler's guitar is as sharp as you'd expect and Sam Fogarino brings almost every song to a dramatic conclusion on the drums, but there's a sizeable gulf between early and later material; anything from the first two albums gets a roar within seconds and commands attention, while much of the later stuff gets mostly shrugs. The band's evolution from the darker end of the post-punk revival to a more “traditional” rock basis becomes clear when a sophisticated new song like Passenger (written in Bruntsfield apparently!) follows the fuzzy Take You on a Cruise.

The intensity of songs like Evil, Obstacle 1 or Slow Hands is unmatched and the trio of Roland, The New and PDA that close the main set, the strongest stretch of the night, highlight what a mighty band Interpol were in their pomp 20 years ago. There's a feeling of going through the motions tonight at times, as newer songs simply can't compete with the energy of those early ones. Everything sounds fine, but the lack of linking threads from the middling albums of the '10s leaves the feeling that a piece of the puzzle is missing.