I am a bit busy at the moment, but I will write later on about how amazing the Razorlight show was at Sin-e, and how surprisingly incredible the Green Day show at Irving was, but until then I would like to take this opportunity to discuss a little band I like to call THE GREATEST BAND ON EARTH RIGHT NOW WHO ISN'T ONE OF THE OTHER FOUR BANDS THAT I CONSIDER TO BE THE GREATEST BAND ON EARTH RIGHT NOW AS WELL.
You might know of them as Interpol.
Now, a few of you have written to me saying that you didn't really care for Antics, and I understand this. The first time i heard it I was confused. Paul's voice sounded different, the songs all sound same-y, and I just felt sort of cheated. Then I got a chance to listen to the album on a cdplayer (instead of the cassette tape my boss had given me from the label). I was still a bit "eh...." Until Alex (whose band the Madison Strays have a show on Friday at Rothko w/Pitty Sing), convinced me to give it another 10 shots. He promised me that I would love it once it penetrated my system. He said "It's better than TOTBL." I replied "That's total bullshit, dude." But gave it a whirl anyhow.
And you know what? Alex, with his little [insert private joke between me, him, and karen that could be considered inappropriate, but by me putting this here at least they will laugh] ears, is right. Antics is actually, way better than TOTBL. I mean, it would've been way, way, way better without "A Time To Be So Small" (I would've put "Percipitate" in there instead), but apart from that one song, which is at the end anyway, the album is fucking amazing.
So now, I present you with a picture of them:
first, a time to be so small is a great closing track. second, antics is fantastic, but there's no way that it beats totbl.
ReplyDeleteyeah, see, normally i wouldnt trust the taste of the little shit (the little shit being chow)... i mean, the dude doesnt think kate moss is hot and thinks that grabbing my boob at happy endings counts as sex... BUT.
ReplyDeleteANTICS is better than TOTBL. no doubt. good call, sar about precipitate... why does that track never see the light of day? and specialist? hello? only the BEST interpol song (once again, chow missing the boat on something, that little shit)... it shouldnt be banished to the ep. if they had to include a time to be so small, why didnt they put the original with all that weird overdubbing? that was cool.
theyre into lots of voices. im into stuff. thas cool.
green day shows = love. though more importantly... i dont know if i told you this yet, but im gonna marry the futureheads.
will you just hurry up and adopt me already. i'm legally legal and you can just send me back to jersey when you get sick of me.
ReplyDeletekate moss IS NOT hot. she's not bad. but i wouldn't give her a second look if she passed me on the street. she needs a couple tattoos.
ReplyDeletealso, sarah - thanks for the link. it's www.madisonstrays.com though - no "the".
i think the reason everyone (including me) loves TOTBL is because of the nostalgia attached to it - it came out right at the height of the NYC rock revival frenzy. it was a good time. but judged subjectively, Antics is way more accomplished.
-alex
actually, i've been waiting for "a time to be so small" to come out on something other than the grey self-released EP. great song, great way to end any album. although in light of all the joy division namecalling it was probably a good idea to rerecord it with fewer weird overdubs and effects (which made it sound more like JD than any other song of theirs, bar "roland," which, sorry folks, is frighteningly close to JD's "shadowplay"). from the snippet online now at interpolantics.com, it sounds like they've disco'd it up a bit so it's less dirgey, but it's still a great tune. give it a chance.
ReplyDeleteDude -- I feel EXACTLY the same way about the new album. Your description is totally right on.
ReplyDeletethe verse melody in slow hands is nearly identical to the verse melody in stella. I've listened to the album twice and that's the only thing I can think of to say about it. It's very inessential.
ReplyDeleteBUT that might be the best mr Paul has ever looked in a photo. [and kate moss is nothing more than average.]
Didn't listen to TOTBL, because quite frankly, all the hipster dipshits were into them at the time...however, I must say that Antics has good song structure (intro, build up, crescendo, denoumont (sp?)) however, the songs take a minute or two to really get started. It doesn't immediately flip your shit like some of the opening riffs off of the Killers songs 10 seconds into it. In this iPod shuffling world, waiting 1 minute for the song to actually begin may be 1 minute too long.
ReplyDeleteI believe only girls find Kate Moss attractive...real guys (not those feminine guys you hang out in brooklyn with) find ladies with more than 1% body fat attractive...
although i don't think it's better than totbl, antics displays some of the best straight ahead drumming i've ever heard. kudos to sam.
ReplyDeleteleave alex alone, he can't help being a retard, it's a genetic default.
kate moss is not hot,which is strange, cause i have little to no standards.
go see me play saturday at pianos
-dan
oh yes, about the kate moss thing...i wholly agree with the other anonymous verdict: not hot. in any way. even aesthetically, never mind erotically (ugh). i mean, leigh is thin but also totally beautiful, kate is just scrawny.
ReplyDeletesome body fat is a good thing. remember some of us believe that the next time someone "comments on your weight," sarah.
ok another thing about TOTBL vs. Antics - even though Antics, song-for-song, is far stronger, TOTBL is more consistent in its narrative arc. Listening to TOTBL is like reading a great 3-act novel. It has the explosive set-up (Obstacle 1, PDA), the lukewarm middle act (Hands Away, Roland), and the emotional closure of the third (Leif Erikson, The New).
ReplyDeletelistening to Antics is more like reading a collection of short stories. The songs don't necessarily build upon each other. Great stories, though.
-alex
my awesome friend jason is in a band called On!Air!Library! - they will be doing some shows with interpol in november-ish - you all should check them out.
ReplyDeleteI'm not really into the first track either... I usually always skip it and go straight to "Evil." But the entire middle section of the album is amaaaazing. I wonder what other magazine covers the boys will be on...
ReplyDeleteHey, way off topic but, sarah, where do you get your hair cut?
ReplyDeleteinterpol are touring with an excellent philly band called HAIL SOCIAL [http://www.hailsocial.com/] on the following dates:
ReplyDelete10/11 - Boston - Avalon
10/12 - Montreal - Metropolis
10/13 - Toronto - The Docks
10/15 - Detroit - State Theater
10/16 - Columbus - Newport Music Hall
10/17 - Chicago - Riviera Theatre
10/19 - Minneapolis - First Avenue
10/22 - Seattle - Paramount Theatre
10/23 - Vancouver - Commodore Ballroom
10/24 - Portland - Crystal Ballroom
10/25 - San Francisco - Warfield Theatre
10/27 - Los Angeles - The Wiltern
i get my hair cut once a year, and this year i got it cut at a place by a guy who no longer works there and who only cut about an inch off and left all my split ends so i'm not gonna recommend it.
ReplyDeleteTOTBL has great atmosphere. Its like its a gas and it just fills everything. When it was playing in a room, you couldn't escape it. It hid in every corner and took you to a place regardless of whether or not you felt like going there. Maybe its the difference in reverb, but Antics lacks that. its a bunch of songs following one another. Good, but not nearly as haunting. I listened to it endlessly for about 2-3 weeks then put it down and only occasionally have the desire to hear it. Years later, I still have TOTBL ready on hand.
ReplyDeleteCarlos and Sam are seriously one of the best rhythm sections ever. Their interplay on songs like Obstacle 1 rival anything John Bonham/John Paul Jones did. Sadly, on Antics, Sam's beats are less interesting and more straight forward and dancy and there is simply less ways for the bass to interact with that. The few interesting moments are almost straight repeats of moments they had on TOTBL.
Nothing on Antics has the magic of Untitled, none haunt me like The New, none have the energy of Obstacle 1 or Say Hello to the Angels.
Antics is a damn good album but not as good as TOTBL. Most of TOTBL were songs they had been working on for years and years and had damn near perfected and Antics, aside from the last song, sounds like the songs were just written quicker.
But Antics has more pop appeal and I suspect its a good way to get more people into a great great band.
Also agreed that the Specialist is a damn fine song, possibly my overall favorite. I like Precipitate too, but they've grown a lot since then.
Every song on Antics has one "good part." Every song on Bright Lights consisted solely of "good parts."
ReplyDeleteKate Moss is kind of like Audrey Hepburn and Sarah Jessica Parker. Women find them attractive and men just don't get it.
Leigh is very pretty but her eyebrows are too far apart. She would be flawless if she'd stop the mild overtweezing.
Antics is great. Wasn't too impressed upon the first couple of listens but I knew i'd come around.
ReplyDeleteSo will Interpol grace the cover of Spin anytime soon?
check out some awesome interpol artwork by shepard fairey on my site.
www.interpoltheband.com
cheers!
jennie
man overanalyzing interpol is such a buzz kill. their first album is one of my favorites in the whole world but i only realized that like a year after i had it. i agree that it is totally haunting. i believe that i will someday feel the same about their new album.
ReplyDeletekate moss is a photographer's dream come true. her versatility is unsurpassed.
interpol live in person bores me.
ReplyDeletesaw them at curiosa and
paul sounded like a robot.
the rapture = better imo,
now you say antics is better than totbl?
ultra, the drugs you smoke, do share
peace, love & misfires,
jstn
I completely agree with the fact that Antics took time to penetrate (just like the first album), but i'm not sure that it's better than TOTBL. Although very similar, each album conveys a very different mood and are equally great (in my opinion) for that exact reason.
ReplyDeleteAlso, make sure you all buy the actual album because they may be some surprises on it...
- audrey
Antics is very pretty but is only vaguely dour. Bright Lights is striking, compelling, and gripping.
ReplyDeletei thought interpol was killer at curiosa. lets keep in mind that it was in the middle of the day...and as with many shows these days, most of the audience was totally lame and just stood there like zombies staring at them like waiting for fire to come shooting out of paul's ass or something. people need to break loose at shows more --it's such a buzz kill for those of us who really get into it.
ReplyDeletei was one of the few people around me who was rocking out...and low and behold i was blessed with the company of my hero Cloe Sevigny who was next to me totally dancing like a crazy woman on fire --it was amazing.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeletelet's just say that even though i love women, i would want paul banks to father my baby. and that's a very exclusive club, my friends...
ReplyDeletesadly, i missed curiosa due to the washington show being the only one postponed (!?!?). still angry about that...
i work at a magazine so i find out from band publicists. i'll try to better about posting show info in the future.
ReplyDelete"however, the songs take a minute or two to really get started. It doesn't immediately flip your shit like some of the opening riffs off of the Killers songs 10 seconds into it. In this iPod shuffling world, waiting 1 minute for the song to actually begin may be 1 minute too long."
ReplyDeleteThat is one of the most retarded things I've ever read.
Is Interpol going to be playing an unannounced show in San Francisco on the 28th?
ReplyDeletei heart paul banks. i heart antics. i heart drinking to antics. i heart interpol.
ReplyDelete-parker