Interpol made one of the truly greatest records of their era. Turn on the Bright Lights was a tour de force that brought post punk into the modern era–a breakthrough that is still going strong today (Neon Trees does nothing but put Interpol songs through a top 40 machine). Unfortunately, that sort of impact would cast a long shadow on the rest of their career.

But while their later albums are justly maligned as uninspired, Antics is a stellar second act that (like the Strokes’ oft ignored Room on Fire) is just as good as its prequel. In hindsight, it seems that the only reason that Antics is left off the Best Of retrospectives is its release date. Had it been the debut and Bright Lights the sophomore, it might be a different story.