There was another review on this site for this album. I'm just here to offer up this album in a diffrent light. Interpol can be grouped together with the other 80's revialist bands out of NYC such as the Rapture or Radio 4, but what seperates them from the rest of these bands is, instead of just recycling the music fro mthe 80's Interpol tries to take the sound of the 80's post-punk and make it there own by moving foward instead of just replicating the post punk bands of the 80's such as Joy Division and Gang of Four (to a lesser extent). After the release of Turn On The Bright Lights they garnered praise from critics and became popular on the indie scene. I don't have Turn On The Bright Lights so I will not compare Antics to it.
The Band is:
Paul Banks-Lead Guitar, Vocals
Daniel Kesslar-Guitar, Vocals
Carlos D.-Bass, Keyboards
Sam Fogarino-Drums
The album starts off with "Next Exit" a slow opener with keyboards opening in a chord progression. Paul's baritone vocals come in and yes once you hear his voice the Joy Division comaprisons are justified. The first track starts things of slow and the vocals and guitar seem to drag on for a bit but for a opener it lulls you into the album and draws you in. After that the next song "Evil" starts off with a hypnotizing bass line, and just keeps gettign better. Paul's vocals seem to take off here, the guitars just grind together perfectly and the drums are dare i say-danceable. The song also contains lyrics that are very smart, and all in all is just an awesome song that always seems to put me in a good mood. "Narc" is up next and starts off with a guitar playing a nice little riff and the lyrics here encompass the same idea in most of the songs on the album-love. While sometiems abstract, you can still conenct to it partly in due to Paul's singing being so powerful. "Narc" has one of the best choruses on the album even if the bridge does sound a little out of key it ends ona pwerful note with Paul's singing top notch. Defintley a highlight on the album. "Take You On A Cruise" is up next. Once again the guitars and bass are all amazing, the vocals seem to drop in quality compared to "Narc" but the lyrics are once again about love. "Take You On A Cruise" is enjoyable, although not a highlight on the album. "Slowhands" the first single off the album starts with an almost lazy guitar intro to me. The lyrics are smart here with Paul bellowing lines like "You make me wanna pick up my guitar and celebrate the myriad ways that I love you" that somehow just make you feel good. This sogn is upbeat compared to "Take You On A Cruise" which was much more emotional. After "Slowhands" comes "Not Even Jail". At first this sogn got on my nerves with just the intro. Then after I actaully sat down and listened to it I realized how superb this song really is. After a intro with weird guitar effects and the bass chugging along with the drums, Paul plays a guitar riff the keeps the song moving, and begins singing some of the best lyrics on the album even if they are quite abstract. The guitars here are simply amazing they kinda make me feel like im in a dream dor soem reason, but it does fit the song very well. I connect with this song greatly now seeing as it really grew on me. Another highlight of the album. "Public Pervert" is next and contains once again very good lyrics and Pauls voice here goes from almost a whisper to him singing out his lungs. The song lags on a little bit up until the bridge/outro and even then the outro drags on a little bit. Not the best but not the worst, on the same level as "Take You On A Cruise". Next comes "C'mere" and this is the one track on the cd you must hear any way possible. The guitars shine here as the riffs are alive and upbeat compared to the emotional weight of the last two tracks. I cannot find one bad thing to say about this song, the vocals are on-point, the bass is alive the drums get you moving and it is just all in all the best song on the album. The lyrics are just plain amazing. I can go on for this song for days but you will just have to listen to it to understand what I am saying.By the time the guitars are done riffing and the song is done you will be begging for more and hope the next track can even meet up to half of what "C'mere" is. The next 2 tracks are a huge let down. "Length Of Love" is just annoying with the guitars soundin out of place and "A Time To Be So Small" just leaves you bored, containg the worst lyrics on the album being so abstract. The last 2 tracks just let down what could have been a classic album.
All in all, Interpol have a made a very fine album here and i reccommend you at least give it a try. It may turn you off if your not so much into the whole genre. Interpol have seperated themselves by making a very solid album, and instead of wallowing in depression, they choose to be a little more upbeat and somewhat more pop. They still have there sad moments but as a whole this album is like a small beam of light if youre having a bad day.
Reccommended Tracks:
Narc
Slowhands
Not Even Jail
Cmere
FInal Rating-4/5
this is my first review so be honest if it sucked.
