Interpol - Antics (Matador, 2004)

Interpol
Antics
Matador
2004

Rating: 7 border smugglers out of 10

Like many folks who enjoy “indie rock” or whatever it’s called nowadays, I was a bit put back (and put off) by all of the hype that Interpol received after the release of their first album. Not that it was a bad record, but other than the track “NYC” there was nothing overwhelmingly gratifying about “Turn on the Bright Lights” other than that it reminded most folks of Joy Division. I figured I would just rather listen to Joy Division themselves, and skip the middle man - no fuss, no muss. I even saw Interpol live a year or so after the record came out, and felt the exact same way – a decent band, not really worthy of the hype being heaped upon them, but it’s still better than most of the garbage that the mall crowd buys. They did have a great light show though, but that’s neither here nor there.

So fast forward a couple of years, to the fall of 2004 and the release of Interpol’s sophomore release, “Antics”. Now, I’m not sure what happened – maybe my listening tastes changed a bit since the last record was released, or perhaps the band switched up their sound significantly (I’m thinking it was a little of both), but I have been listening to this new record a lot. A whole lot really – not quite obsessively, but nearing that. The first thing that sticks out on this release is the pace of it – there are many more upbeat tracks here, much less plodding along through mid-tempo numbers, which is probably the biggest reason why I find this album so interesting. Perhaps it is also that same upbeat, almost poppy (gasp) sound that makes the album seem a lot less morose and dark than its predecessor. This is instantly obvious when you hear “Evil”, the second track and a song in which my friend though the band was trying to imitate REM. My personal favorite on the album is “Slow Hands”, which has nothing to do with Eric Clapton as far as I can tell, but still makes me want to go dancing at the local bar during goth night and make out with some pasty faced ladies in black velvet dresses (not that I don’t normally feel like making out with goth girls anyways, but that’s another story all together). The bottom line is that Interpol has not only avoided the dreaded sophomore jinx, but they’ve actually managed to one-up their previous record, and even have me thinking about giving the old one a second shot.