Turn on the Bright Lights is a great debut album. The guitars are compelling when paired with Paul Banks's jarring vocals, letting bizarre lyrics like "subway is a porno" slide. The bass lines are far from boring and the drumming is precise and deliberate. All this talent was fused into a euphoric experience that was warmly received by the press. It is enticing to make the same exact album to avoid the sophomore slump, but these well-suited musicians did not succumb to the temptation.
Antics develops a more upbeat sound, but bassist Carlos Dengler insists, "[Paul Banks] was pretty unhappy" in a recent interview. The tracks are more danceable; instead of grooving to morbid lyrics like "and you go stabbing yourself in the neck," the lyrics like "hey wait/great smile" are more appropriate to dance to. The tracks "Take You on a Cruise" and "Not Even Jail" echo closely the grandeur of their debut, but other tracks explore a lighter sound.
"Next Exit" is initiated by a resonating organ followed by Banks's vocals cueing in the soughing guitars and the gentle drums. The church-like organ sounds as if Banks has just received a spiritual revelation, yet all he can sing is, "we ain't going to the town/we're going to the city" listlessly. Dengler begins "Evil" with a quiet, menacing bass line, and then Banks joins in, sweetly singing about a girl named Rosemary. There's a nice suspension with the rhetorical question, "but hey who's on trial?", disjointed strumming, then intense drumming launching into a ridiculously catchy chorus. Banks addresses a different lady in the chorus as he exasperatedly sings, "Sandy why can't we look the other way?/why can't we play the other game?" The verses and the chorus do not really connect lyrically, so I guess it doesn't matter if he's singing about two different girls.
The first single "Slow Hands" is a good contender for Franz Ferdinand's "Take Me Out" on the airwaves; it is hip, energetic, and infectious. Banks wears his heart on his chic sleeve with lyrics, "can't you see what you've done to my heart and soul?/this is a wasteland now," but to hurt is "so painless" and it inspires him to "pick up [his] guitar and celebrate the myriad ways that [he] loves you." Although there is an opportune time for a guitar solo when the keyboard and bass drone softly, Daniel Kessler only halfheartedly plays a riff. "C'mere" has the most affectionate lyrics "oh how I love you in the evenings/when we are sleeping/we are sleeping," but Banks's vocals do not deliver enough passion. It's another song about him being spurned, so the theme must be somewhat tedious for him.
I obviously enjoy Turn on the Bright Lights more, but Antics is a good album. The songs are catchier and the lyrics are better; however, there are less long and palpable instrumental sections. Those instrumental sections on their debut made the emotions and mood tangible and the lack of them on Antics project conflicting feelings.
