Antics

About

Interpol set the bar very high for themselves with their debut <i>Turn On the Bright Lights</i>, but managed to match or exceed expectations with their second record. While the first album went heavy on grim atmosphere and a vague but potent air of romantic anguish, <i>Antics</i> doubles down on hooks and precisely calibrated rhythm, resulting in a tighter and more concentrated set of song. The songwriting, particularly on the hits “Evil” and “C’mere,” is brighter and more melodically generous than most anything on <i>Bright Lights</i> without sacrificing any of the group’s shadowy mystique. Singer and guitarist Paul Banks’ vocals are higher in the mix, which places more emphasis on his inscrutable lyric. Some lines are so odd and awkward they make the song more memorable than it might be otherwise—“We spie, we slow hand, put the weights around yourself”—while other lyrics are like Rorschach blots set to music, like when Banks passionately bleats “Combat salacious removal” a few times at the climax of “Length of Love.” Banks’ best lines are evocative phrases that pop up out of nowhere at the most dramatic moment of a song, like when he belts out “You’re making people’s lives feel less private” midway through the careening “Not Even Jail.” Banks was clearly aware that most anything sounded intense and serious with his nasal and stentorian voice, and that nonsense hits better with a paranoid, bug-eyed tone. .

via Apple Music

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