• Record Label: Matador
  • Release Date: Sep 28, 2004
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 33 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 26 out of 33
  2. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. 100
    There's something totally irresistible about Antics: The air of mystery, the bleak but hopeful arrangements and the melodies so sharp and moving that they might inspire a night of heroic partying.
  2. A nearly perfect follow-up... [it] keeps intact Interpol’s singular melodic prowess, while both tightening its songwriting and making unpredictable shifts in instrumental emphasis.
  3. Spin
    91
    Antics is so much more fun than Turn On The Bright Lights. [Oct 2004, p.107]
  4. Q Magazine
    90
    Antics is ridiculously good. [Oct 2004, p.112]
  5. Antics is a very strong record that is home to a number of truly incredible songs.
  6. It may be predictable, but if predictable means rock-solid and mostly magnificent, why bother asking for more?
  7. Manages to dabble with tension and still emerge with something life-affirming.
  8. What makes Antics such an improvement over Bright Lights is how capable Interpol have become at complementing Banks's lovely ambiguity with an increasingly precise post-punk throb.
  9. Interpol have produced a soaring, inventive album that, while incorporating the deliciously dark atmosphere of ‘Turn On The Bright Lights’, merely uses it as a base to create more ambitious, warmer soundscapes.
  10. Though Interpol couldn't be expected to surpass their previous heights, it's difficult to imagine a savvier or more satisfying second step.
  11. Entertainment Weekly
    83
    [Banks] brings a surprisingly uplifting tunefulness to the band's spiky rhythms and swelling drones. [1 Oct 2004, p.73]
  12. New Musical Express (NME)
    80
    An album scored through with a vehement beauty that, with each listen, becomes all the more acute for its unwillingness to shy away from life's bleaker, more painful moments. [25 Sep 2004, p.62]
  13. "Antics" is even better [than Bright Lights], possibly because the band isn't trying so hard to be weird.
  14. Altogether the album's feel is much more lively, bouncy, and accessible, and in combination with the band's ubiquitous ambient underpinnings, the upbeat tone often makes this collection inspiring.
  15. On Antics, Interpol is less indebted to its influences, creating a distinct sound from the distinguishing characteristics that drew those comparisons in the first place.
  16. Antics is a grower. It’s not as grandiose as its predecessor, but it still packs a lasting punch.
  17. They no longer rely on dense production and atmospherics, because they don’t need to: ‘Antics’ is bare-boned and beautiful.
  18. Under The Radar
    80
    While this is ultimately a more sophisticated record, it's probably a less obvious one, too. [#7]
  19. Rolling Stone
    80
    A far more refined and finessed record than its predecessor. [14 Oct 2004, p.96]
  20. Overall, it’s a suppler record than its older brother, largely avoiding the skittish tempos of "Turn On..." tracks like "Roland" in favour of elegant curves and harmonies... though the road-honed likes of "Slow Hands" and "Not Even Jail" still hit bruisingly hard.
  21. On first listen [it's] profoundly unimpressive.... What each successive listen reveals, however, is a deftly understated and maturing pop craftsmanship.
  22. You will love some or all of these ten tracks, but for reasons you don't quite understand, you may never love the album as a whole.
  23. To the band's credit, the weaker songs aren't necessarily eating space for no reason -- their B-material here is more affecting than the average indie band's A-material. The problem is that, during those lesser moments, the band shows signs of attempting to cannibalize Turn on the Bright Lights' magnetic sulking, and their hearts don't seem to be as in it.
  24. It’s a lot less monotone than its predecessor.
  25. Is Antics superior to Interpol's highly regarded debut, Turn On The Bright Lights? Well, yes, providing your criteria involve a tighter, less fussy sound and gimmick-free production.
  26. Los Angeles Times
    63
    The band works too hard to seem mysterious. [10 Oct 2004]
  27. Very straightforward Interpol-lite.
  28. The New York Times
    60
    In the end, unfortunately, "Antics" is fairly uneven. [19 Sep 2004]
  29. Blender
    60
    Less lugubrious and more melodic than [Bright Lights], but the improvement is marginal. [Oct 2004, p.119]
  30. Mojo
    60
    Annoyingly, [the] high marks are all too infrequent. [Oct 2004, p.116]
  31. These songs feel heavy and significant enough--due to dynamic production and hooky choruses--even if we don’t know exactly what they mean.
  32. If it doesn't exactly blaze off in bold new directions, it does offer an opportunity for Interpol to do some fine-tuning (not that they need much) and settle comfortably into their black, velvet-lined pocket.
User Score
8.9

Universal acclaim- based on 246 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Negative: 7 out of 246
  1. Dec 29, 2013
    10
    Doesn't Quite top Interpol's stunning Turn On The Bright Lights, yet feels just as Bleak and depressing for example Tracks like Narc and EvilDoesn't Quite top Interpol's stunning Turn On The Bright Lights, yet feels just as Bleak and depressing for example Tracks like Narc and Evil really show that the band still have what it takes to create new bleak, sad, lonely psychotic sounds about been blue. Full Review »
  2. Jul 9, 2020
    10
    Man, what a great album. I've been listening to it for 16 years and I still haven't gotten tired of it.
  3. Oct 23, 2017
    9
    Even if "Antics" wasn't quite the epic that was "Turn On the Bright Lights", it is a serious record and a very impressive follow up to it allEven if "Antics" wasn't quite the epic that was "Turn On the Bright Lights", it is a serious record and a very impressive follow up to it all the same. The bands biggest hit "Evil" really drove this album on commercially but there are plenty of better songs on here. The arrangements are complex with the various elements of the songs all going off in different directions yet ending up at the same destination. It's still got the dark feel of TOTBL but doesn't have the same atmospheric feel, the panic in the vocals for example set Interpol's debut apart. In my opinion Interpols first two records are flawless and it's a pity what followed after this wasn't quite up to scratch. Despite a resurgence with their last album, they've been in the shadow of these records since they were released. Full Review »