Interpol burst onto the scene in 2002 with the extremely successful Turn on the Bright Lights , a dark and powerful album that channeled both Joy Division and the Cure. It even scored them two radio hits ("Obstacle 1" and "PDA") and an MTV Video Music Award nomination for the "PDA" video, a surprising feat for a band on an indie label.
Antics (released Sept. 28 on legendary indie label Matador Records), like its predecessor, has its power. But as the highly anticipated follow-up, it disappoints, lacking some of the gloom and doom that made "Turn on the Bright Lights" so unique. That isn't to say that it lacks all of it.
The album's opener, "Next Exit," is a simple song starting with a shadowy-sounding organ that transitions into the accompaniment to lead singer/guitarist Paul Banks as he begins: "We ain't goin' to the town /. . . And make this place a heart to be a part of / Again."
The next song, "Evil," is one of the album's best. It's Carlos Dengler's (he goes simply by "Carlos D" in the album's liner notes) deep and driving bass line and Banks' pensive vocals that makes the song stick out. The drums kick in, and guitarist Daniel Kessler's simple, hollow-sounding guitar riff adds to the music.
The album's first single "Slow Hands" begins deliberately with two rhythmically fluctuating guitars and a single repetitive kick drum that builds until its quick Franz Ferdinand-like dance rock chorus, held together by drummer Sam Fogarino's disco beat.
Uptempo, with jangly spy-style guitars, the music is not necessarily always upbeat. "Length Of Love" takes one of those jangly spy riffs to the mournful dreariness of "Turn On the Bright Lights." The song stands out mainly because Dengler and Foragrino mark a strong contrast with those grim sounding guitars and a funky danceable rhythm, again hinting at the disco rock of some of the other songs on the album.
The weak point of all this is the lyrics, which are usually hit-or-miss. Banks conveys the dreary mood of songs like "C'Mere," when he sings "It's way to late to be locked inside ourselves / The trouble is that you're in love with someone else / It should be me / It should be me."
But in some songs like "Take You On A Cruise," the lyrics seem contrived; for example: "I can see that you've come to resist me, I'm a pit bull in time / Your pretense is not what restricts me / It's the circles inside."
In the end, Antics fails to pack the same emotional punch as The New does in the garage rock swagger of Say Hello To Angels .
Still, elements of Bright Lights linger; Antics ' greatest handicap is that it follows Bright Lights , an album that is hard to surpass. But if there's another album coming that will surpass it, it will be Interpol's.