I never get tired of bands fronted by good looking women. In fact I tend to overlook flaws that would otherwise be annoying just because there is more entertainment value than just the music. What first got me into Metric was a video for their song I.O.U., and the music overall wasn't too memorable, but one thing that stood out to me was the energy of Emily Haines. I proceeded to check them out further, prompting me to purchase this fine album.
It isn't earth shattering. It is nothing I haven't heard before, in fact it blends in rather easily with the other dancey bands coming around in the last several years (Liars, !!!, The Faint, etc.). But you see, none of them are fronted by women, so what do I care? But in all seriousness, this album has a few very good songs which I believe outshine anything from the other dance punk bands of this era, and for that reason alone is worth a purchase.
Now, about the album. The general feel that I get from this record is that Metric have an axe to grind. Well, that isn't exactly true, I got that message rather clearly in videos for "Combat Baby" and "Succexy". I suppose it wouldn't come as a huge shock to anyone who has seen those videos that this record has a strong anti-war undertone.
"I.O.U." gets the party started, and poses as a rather straightforward punk rock song. It merges nicely from major to minor chords and implements a simple piano piece mirrored by the bass guitar and some electronic sounding parts near the end.
Anti-War Lyric Watch -
Every ten year-old enemy soldier thinks falling bombs are shooting stars sometimes. But she doesn't make wishes on them. When she wishes, she wishes for less ways to wish for, more ways to work toward it.
The fact that “Hustle Rose”, the albums second song, wasn’t a single is a crime, as it is easily the best song on the album. It begins with a choppy synth and an keyboard mimicking Emily’s melodic singing of “Now that your wallet is all lit up” repeated many times. Then the synth fades out and it is just a beautiful melody by Emily and a simple guitar part. Then at the 1:30 mark the song takes on a magical feel to it for a while. Then at the 3:30 mark it gets rockier with a heavy guitar. All in all it could be several songs rolled into one epic one.
“Succexy” is the first obviously anti-war song on the album. Musically it is pretty solid, in fact it is one of the highlights of the album. There are nice harmonized vocals, and the guitar and synths are also solid.
Anti-War Lyric Watch -
Let's drink to the military. The glass is empty. Faces to fill and cars to feed. Nothing could beat complete denial. All we do is talk, sit, switch screens as the homeland plans enemies. Invasion's so succexxy…Passive attraction, programmed reaction.
“Combat Baby” is one of the more popular Metric songs and one of the videos that got me into them. It is pretty strong vocally with several parts that ensnare me, particularly the do-do-do parts and the parts where Emily dances. But yeah, anyway musically this is a great song too :).
Anti-War Lyric Watch -
They try to kick it, their feet fall asleep. I want to be wrong but no one here wants to fight me like you do
“Calculation Theme” is an odd song that is a bit boring musically. The one part that stands out to me is the lyric “Tonight your ghost will ask my ghost ‘where is the love’. Tonight your ghost will ask my ghost who put these bodies between us”.
Anti-War Lyric Watch -
Tonight your ghost will ask my ghost ‘where is the love’. Tonight your ghost will ask my ghost who put these bodies between us .
“Wet Blanket” and “On a Slow Night” are going to be left off of this review because quite frankly I don’t like these songs.
“The List” is in my opinion the next song worth listening to. It is a fast paced, up tempo master piece that just keeps building to a point where I don’t think Emily can keep up with herself trying to sing as the song just takes on a frantic pace and it becomes a pretty rocking song.
“Dead Disco” is another pretty solid song. It is driven by distorted guitar and a methodical bass line. The last half of the album doesn’t have the great songs that the first half does, and “Dead Disco” falls into the category of a good song. It’s great to listen to and all, but there isn’t that thing that makes me want to listen to it again, but if it is on it’s good. You know what I mean, it just doesn’t have much in the way of replay value because it sounds like a lot of the other electro-dance songs out there.
The album ends with “Love is a Place”, a song that starts out nice and soft with the focus on the vocals. The guitars maintain happy equilibrium with major and minor keys. It is a ok song overall, but as an album closer, I would have liked something a little longer and more powerful.
My only complaint with this album is the major drop off in song quality from the first to the second half of the album. Still I believe it is worth it to give the first half of the album a listen, because of the standout tracks.
Members
The Sexy Emily – Vocals, Synth
Jimmy – Guitar
Josh – Bass
Joules – Drums
Recommended Tracks:
“I.O.U.”
“Hustle Rose”
“Combat Baby”
“The List”
COMBAT BABY!
4/5
