Interpol Antics

You won’t believe this but it’s true.  I went to my local Best Buy  to pick up this bad boy and wouldn’t you know it, they’re out by 3p of the same day of release.  Ok, no problem.  I’ll go back the next day, right?  But when I check back in, I find that not only are they out of the latest Interpol release, their 2^nd, Antics, but they have been taking rain checks on it all day.  As a matter of fact, the guy before me was getting a rain check for the very same album I was waiting for.  I did a little checking.  The store had ordered 125 copies and all sold out before 3p release day.  How’s that for anticipation.

As so it goes for this 4-man band on the eve of their sophomore release.  Antics is the culmination of what can only be a trying point in a career, that of besting the debut.  Many have failed; more have dreaded that point in time when you have to prove that you’re better than a one album hit, that you can continue to produce excellent music.

Interpol’s debut was a collection of darkly reminiscent tunes that had their base in the late 70s/early 80s post punk, namely Joy Division and a few others.  Antics carry on the Interpol legacy with aplomb and skill.  Not only do Antics provide the depth that their debut explored musically, but it is a extraordinary natural progression.  The trip that you would have expected Interpol to take is traveled on Antics.  But they have taken a few more paths as well.

The funereal “Next Exit” could have come off of Bright Lights but that is the set’s comfort zone.  It eases the listener, who is familiar with the band’s former album, into the rest of the album, and is actually appropriately named.   Once you realize that Interpol still has it, you can easily slide into the subsequent tunes, some of them different in style than before.  “Evil”, a sprightly song, carries an underlying feel of OMD in a harder rock setting, complete with the OMD-sounding piano fills found in the second verse.  “Narc” is Television (the band), Interpol style.  But, while naming the influences that fill this album, it is only fair to make you realize that Interpol is like a breath of fresh air in this age.  They still exhibit an originality that completes the mix of tunes found on this album.

In short, while Antics is like a wine complete with attractive flavours, it is also a blend that stands on its own merits.  Interpol’s latest is a class release that demands to found in your collection.  Plus, you’ll be cool because you know about them.  At least you do now.

Don’t hesitate.