Interpol

If fate didn’t quite ordain the circumstances for Interpol’s seventh album, it was at least fortunate that the band had happily concluded their Marauder cycle on stage in front of 30 thousand-odd Peruvian fans. Rather than be sent scrambling like so many other musicians on tour or promoting new music, when lockdown clamped in March 2020, Interpol quickly got into a productive mood.

Formed in New York City, Interpol quickly rose to prominence with their unique blend of post-punk, shoegaze, and dark wave influences. Their debut album, Turn on the Bright Lights, became a critical and commercial success, establishing the band as a major force in alternative music. Over the course of their career, Interpol have released seven critically acclaimed studio albums including The Other Side of Make-Believe in July 2022.

On their 2002 debut, Turn On The Bright Lights, Interpol proved that their uncanny resemblance to the heavy-hearted post-punk guitar groups of the early Eighties was both a blessing and a curse. On its follow-up, the New York quartet moves forward. Continuous touring has clearly improved each member’s chops: Antics is a far more refined and finessed record than its predecessor. More remarkable is the well-dressed foursome’s improved songwriting. Whereas Bright Lights made its mark with bleak moods and Paul Banks’ vocal anguish, Antics achieves a tunefulness that warms and broadens Interpol’s music, and helps them establish an identity distinct from their dolorous influences. On “Evil,” the guitars pulsate, pause as if for breath and then surge as the melody soars and Banks offers hard-won optimism: “It took a life span with no cellmate/The long way back/Sandy, why can’t we look the other way?” What was once forced for Interpol now comes naturally: Antics chooses light over darkness without denying gray areas between.