Antics [PA]

Performer: Interpol
Distributor: Alternative Dis. Alliance

Notes: The title of Interpol's second album, ANTICS, may conjure up images of carefree adventure, but anyone familiar with the New York City band's brooding post-punk sound knows that there's nothing lighthearted about their music. Although it's not a radical departure, ANTICS does reveal a broadening of the group's sonic palette. The opening track, "Next Exit," is a slowly building, piano-laden anthem, marked by singer Paul Banks's remarkably widened vocal range and strangely hopeful lyrics. Clearly the group is eager to move beyond the endless Joy Division comparisons they previously garnered, and this bid works to wonderful effect. Of course, many of the elements that made their debut, TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS, so entrancing--soaring guitar riffs, tight bass lines, frenetic drumming--are still present, particularly on "Narc" and "Slow Hands," but even these tracks aren't merely content to repeat past glories. A solid album that improves upon its predecessor, ANTICS sees Interpol shaking off the mixed blessing of being the Next Big Thing, and hitting a new creative stride.

Rolling Stone (p.96) - 4 stars out of 5 - "ANTICS achieves a tunefulness that warms and broadens Interpol's music, and helps them establish an identity distinct from their dolorous influences." Rolling Stone (p.144) - Included in Rolling Stone's Top 50 Records Of 2004 - "Interpol energize their post-punk with less-bleak lyrics and more-substantial tunes on ANTICS." Spin (pp.107-8) - "Banks has created a romantic persona worthy of Bryan Ferry....[T]here's some air in the arrangements - the album feels confident and spacious..." - Grade: A- Spin (p.67) - Ranked #9 in Spin's "40 Best Albums of the Year" - "Banks lays the closing-time mojo on heavy....Assured..." Entertainment Weekly (p.73) - "[A]mong the free-associated lyrics about hurting hearts and, literally, ship in the night is a band that's just begun to excavate the crevices of their cold, dark souls." - Grade: B+ Uncut (p.98) - 4 stars out of 5 - "[A]ngular and intense....This is cut to perfection: exhilarating, morbid, romantic, cool." Uncut (p.76) - Ranked #40 in Uncut's "Best New Albums of 2004" - "Thrillingly morbid and yet somehow coldly sexy." Magnet (p.67) - Ranked #12 in Magnet's "The 20 Best Albums Of 2004" - "ANTICS swells with broad-shouldered choruses and frontman Paul Banks' romantic verse." CMJ (p.42) - "[I]ncorporating some surprisingly effective disco elements, where the totally underrated rhythm section really shines." Mojo (Publisher) (p.116) - 3 stars out of 5 - "ANTICS certainly packs the same wired punch as their first album..."

In 2002, Interpol helped lead the charge of New York bands influenced by the post-punk and new wave sounds of the early 1980s. With Cure-like moody guitar and synth riffs and dour, Ian Curtis-style vocals, they conjured up a dark but infectious sound. Their debut full-length TURN ON THE BRIGHT LIGHTS quickly found a home in the hearts of those who'd been warmed up by the likes of the retro-loving Strokes and White Stripes (though the boys from Interpol are far artier and not even remotely garage-rock).

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