Interpol's sophmore 'Antics' reveals a subtly changed sound

Everything old is new again in rock music. The hot crop of young bands genuflect at an altar built on angular '80s Brit-rock, where beauty is chilled, austerity rules, and there's a sleek methodology to the relentless reams of misery. No band crystallizes modern-retro cool better than post-post-punk dandies Interpol. The tunes on Interpol's 2002 debut, "Turn On the Bright Lights," were as finely tailored as the New York quartet's designer suits. They were fashionable and important. Gloomy and chic. Brazenly indebted to the past and at the same time beautifully, urgently of the moment.

The moment, however, seems to shrink with every passing year, which makes the already perilous prospect of the sophomore slump that much stickier and trickier. Interpol, whose second album, "Antics," comes out Sept. 28, remains undaunted. According to drummer Sam Fogarino, the pressures of being a much-hyped New York rock band have had a surprisingly bracing effect on the group.

"Instead of being crushed under the weight of expectations, it actually yielded a strong sense of focus," says Fogarino, on the phone from a London hotel. "We were conscious of it every moment of every day in the studio, and we knew we had to keep it at bay. So the whole idea became to simply flatter the songs. Coming off of 16 months on the road we were communicating really well, we'd had more experience, and we just honed in."

Interpol, which plays at Avalon on Oct. 11, spent eight weeks this past spring at their engineer's home studio in Bridgeport, Conn., recording the 10 tracks on "Antics." The "drastically suburban" setting, says Fogarino, provided just the sort of isolation the band required to capture the dark, finely-tuned intensity that defines Interpol's music. And while the new album is by no means a departure from the sound and style of the first collection, subtle changes reveal a band that's allowing itself to evolve at a natural pace. The first single, "Slow Hands," has what Fogarino describes as "a groovy chorus." It's more melodic, more accessible, as evidenced by the fact that Fogarino recently heard the song on KROQ, LA's big commercial rock station, in the middle of the day.

"I think Paul [Banks, Interpol's frontman] has expanded and grown as a singer, too," says Fogarino. "When we were writing songs for the new record he was exploring singing. He was really belting a bit, instead of barking -- that's how he refers to it, which I think is a little harsh. I do think those old Joy Division comparisons should fade with the release of this album."

Likewise the lyrical themes on "Antics" -- while no less elliptical -- are a bit more hopeful than the desperate meditations on alienation that filled "Bright Lights." All of which raises the question: Is Interpol hoping the new album will be an entree to an audience beyond the nostalgic post-punks and disenfranchised hipsters who embraced the first one?

"I'd be lying if I said that lying in bed at 3 o'clock in the morning in this hotel in London it doesn't cross my mind," says Fogarino. "You want to grow as a band, so yeah, I hope it does appeal to more people. But at the same time you don't want to be preoccupied with going gold. I think we're all really proud of the album. There's a sense of achievement. I mean, it's a minor victory just to have made a second album."

Joan Anderman can be reached at anderman@globe.com.