Interpol were always The Strokes that it was okay for people to like. Miserablism is a default setting in indie music, to which everything always returns when the initial flowering of optimism and fun is punctured by all the precious assholes who don't want to be like the rest of those idiots and sneer at anything that dares to cross over. This is unfair to Interpol because they are good, and there's something propulsive and danceable at the heart of a lot of their music that one suspects will get swept away as the pressure to be maudlin increases.

Anyway, like all second albums these days, it tightens up and hones the focus of the debut, whilst at the same time lacking the immediately catchy songs of its forbearer. "Next Exit" is still a strident opener though, and while "Slow Hands" is no "PDA", it's a suitably anthemic choice for a single. The Television style guitars and shifting dynamics of "Narc" demonstrate how much Interpol still owe to The Strokes, although they've stopped trying to hard to sound cheaply produced so the Joy Division comparisons are becoming more distant. The best track, however, is the eerie death disco of "Length Of Love", which combines a repetitive, simplistic, Clinic guitar riff with mantric vocals that go nowhere in the most thrilling manner imaginable.

It's all good, and as with "Turn On The Bright Lights", it rewards repeat listens. The Japanese bonus tracks are two unnecessary reworkings of "Slow Hands", of which the Britt Daniel remix is the funkier and therefore better. -Ian Martin, Oct.20.04.

Antics