by LORRAINE CARPENTER

"It was a spiritual coming-of-age experience for me," says Interpol's Carlos D., gushing over the band's recent gig with the Cure's Curiosa road show. "I had to admit to myself that I was actually on stage with my heroes, which is not an easy thing to deal with, but they turned out to be swell people."

From their swell 2002 debut album Turn on the Bright Lights through their new LP Antics, Interpol have been haunted by comparisons to primo goth-friendly bands (Joy Division above all). Aligning themselves with the Cure, however, was a no-brainer for the New York quartet of Paul Banks (vocals), Carlos D. (bass), Sam Fogarino (drums) and Daniel Kessler (guitar). In case of disagreement over anything from touring to promotion to artwork to breakfast, the band falls back on that old American tradition - democracy.

"Voting frees up our minds and enables us to get things done and let them go, and make sure that it's always about the four of us, not one person calling the shots.

"We like our songwriting to be an organic process. We want there to be consensus, so if one person has a problem, it's a band problem. But we can't apply that level of confidence to every single thing, so the more mundane decisions often come down to a vote, and if someone gets outvoted, they just have to deal with it."

Ironically, Interpol's aye/nay ways were recently revealed in "The Protest Issue" of California's Under the Radar magazine, an interview that D voted against despite the fact that he and his bandmates are on the same page, politically.

"As individuals, we have political viewpoints, but we're not a politically oriented group," D explains. "We don't want to align ourselves with a cause, so I was extremely uncomfortable with the political connotations. Also, as I suspected, it's not a good article."

Conversely, other members of Interpol have had to defend themselves against things D has said and done, such as when his words "When I see a badly dressed guy, it makes me sick" were erroneously attributed to Kessler.

"I've been much maligned for that quote, and not just by my band. Some people even challenge me - ‘Do I make you sick?'" Other band members tend to assume defensive postures when questioned about their penchant for suits and ties, but D's angular coif and goth accessories suggest an open preoccupation with fashion. As for his controversial quip, D insists it sounded a lot less arrogant in context.

"I wasn't being an asshole, I was just having a conversation about fashion consciousness."

One subject the band is happy to discuss is Antics, a dynamic record with a more fleshed-out (but less washed-out) sound than its predecessor. The band balanced evolution and consistency by, once again, producing themselves, in the same Connecticut studio with engineer extraordinaire Peter Kadis.

"We had a great experience with this guy on Bright Lights," says D. "He would let us express our ideas and then put them into action, so there was no reason to fix what wasn't broken. Maybe someday we'll want to work with some big producer, but for now we need to be in control of our own destiny."

With the Secret Machines and Hail Social at Metropolis on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 9 p.m., $22

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