Metric Album: “Live It Out”

This is one of the best albums this year. With Emily Haines consistently sounding like Naomi Watts looks (compelling, wistful, with just an trace of trash around the edges), and enough sparse yet potent 80s-inspired guitar hooks, this Toronto band hangs with the best.

It's a good move away from the more electronic based previous album to this, a more guitar-based effort. The first song starts mellow and explodes into controlled noise and the album never looks back. With a striking indie sound that echoes the harder-edged 80s sounds of such groups as Romeo Void and even a touch of the Pretenders, Metric is carving out a strong presence.

If they don't fall under the Canadian stigma of working too hard to be commercial after early cult success, their next album will be even better.

There's no weak cuts and the song Poster of a Girl, which clearly strikes at commercial success the hardest, while being a great song, might be the only suspect song here. But while the song works way too hard at being clever, its still a great song in its own right.

Any fan of 80s inspired Indie rock should own this one.

Metric's new album Live It Out is different from their last album. In a good way. Their sound is better. Less high-singing Emily and more flipping out parts, more guitars, more rock. There are times when you want to just get on your feet and jump and spaz out and dance. Metric has definitely brought it to another level in this album. To be perfectly honest if you asked what were some of my favourite songs I would name off basically the whole CD. If you lived their last album I think you will like this one even more (as I did). Also, if you get a chance to see Metric live (they are on tour right now) then DO SO. They are amazing. Emily Haines is beautiful. Their new album gets 5++++ stars.

Just walked in from metric destroying webster hall march 06 and all I can say is wow! live, they aim for the fences, playing their small theatre show for an arena-sized audience. i am reminded of the first times i saw phish in my college town of ithaca ny, the sense of witnessing the birth of a phenomenon. That is not to equate this music with any sort of jam band tradition or convention. Metric blend the sound of new wave, dance punk and angular art rock into a new genre onto themselves. They play "Metric"-style. The slow songs kill; are beautiful, swaying. hypnotic. The frenzied songs find a manic intensity in front of a crowd and Emily Haines rides the line between playing the song and playing the room masterfully. Not once did I think that she or the band was willing to forgo the aesthetics of their delectably layered songs for the sake of an empty crowd-arousal gimmick, yet the band always seemed intensely connected to the audience. The 14+ minute breakdown of Dead Disco they did tonight was a masterwork of abstract anti-matter. If you're not already fully on board the metric bus, run to see them live as soon as you can. That is a command. If you already are, then maybe consider selling some earthly possessions and going on "tour". Yeah. It's that good.

Following in the wake of such masterpieces as "Luke's Tears" by Luke's Hand, and the "Final Conflict" by Bear vs. Shark, comes this surprisingly fresh effort from post modernist freak revivalists Metric. From the fragile strains of "Glass Ceiling" to the art-rock sensibilities of "Poster of a Girl", the entire album is woven together by a dichotomy of person and self. "Handshakes" seemingly innovative use of synthesizer is actually a tip of the hat to such seemingly disparate bands as "Joy Divison", "New Order" and "Electronic", which should be clear to those with a big enough musical belt-buckle. "Patriarch on a Vespa"'s subsonic rumbles, crunching riffs and driving rhythm reminiscent of the Bolivian jungle are acid tinged in the tradition of Black Sabbath while simultaneously managing to evoke echoes of Duke Ellington. Of interest to those who are technically inclined, the album defining solo of "Live It Out" features spectacular fretwork and the esoteric yet cohesive progression delivers a skull crushingly heavy sledgehammer blow to the eardrums. Simply sublime. Five stars.

A friend introduced me to Metric and after hearing this album, I have fallen in love with them. Emily Haines is one of the most amazing women of the 21st century. She adds vigor, uniqueness, and spark to all of the music and songs. When you listen to the first song, you have to listen to the second. When you listen to the second, you have to listen to the third. Some albums give you the feeling as if you have to skip over songs because they're either boring or something that isn't to your liking. Not with Metric! Every single song is amazing. I'm always in the mood to listen to metric, especially when i'm down, because it just gets you feeling like you did something right and that you're not the only person on this earth that feels like they're dying right now. Emily's with you.