Review:

on 2011-08-09 CharlesMartel Said:

Metric frontwoman Emily Haines, she of the diaphanous mixture that is Toronto's Broken Social Scene, typifies the duality that Metric present to the world. She is alternately, rough-edged and hard-bitten while on the other hand exuding some sort of unattainable sexuality. Every time I listen to this third album by Metric I am drawn to comparisons with another female-fronted indie album I purchased in the same year, "Radio Wars" by Howling Bells. Everything I found I disliked with that album, I actually like in Metric's "Fantasies" but I am still left feeling somewhat unsatisfied.

In recent years, there has been a noticeable tendency for indie music (and that term in itself covers a multitude of sins, but I'll stick with it for now) to become so contrived that it is in danger of disappearing up its own arse. "Fantasies" is an exemplar of that trend. On the one hand there is the mainstream tilting neo-pop album which can contain catchy little numbers like "Gimme Sympathy" which will continue to garner them airplay on North American commercial radio and gain spots as background music to cutting edge popular TV shows in the UK. On the other hand, there is the "Fantasies" of songs like "Twilight Galaxy" which shows indie at its worst - sombre and doleful but which continues to fuel the hipsters' view of themselves as edgy and out there when in fact they are self-absorbed, puerile, pretentious and frankly objects of derision.

The album is a typical 2009 indie mixture of songs, some of which are memorable enough to burrow their way into your mind to a sufficient degree to cause you to find yourself humming them quietly, such as the opener, "Help I'm Alive". Then you come to tracks like "Gold Guns Girls" which is a largely failed attempt at carrying some political message and display the inability of Haines as a lyricist to create decent imagery in her words. The musical backing to the tracks features the same dichotomy: heavy sounding, guitar-driven rock fayre liberally sprinkled with synthesiser flourishes and backing vocals which are over-produced and tiresome for it stands back to back with intimate, personal tracks in which the band takes a step back to give full rein to Haines' voice.

The result is at times depressing. There is nothing worse than pseudo-intellectualism wearing the clothes of deep and meaningful and at times Metric can stoop that low. Like the aforementioned "Radio Wars" it is an ill-fitting suit; it is uncomfortable to put on and is clearly visible as such. Yet at other times, the band can surprise you, in a way the Howling Bells never do, and come out with something which turns your head and makes you sit up and listen. The problem is that Metric never really figure out which they band they are for these tracks sit side by side with each other - the good follows the bad follows the good. No consistency and no discernment. Metric play the role of indie rock hipsters to perfection, never managing to decide what side of cutting edge they actually fall on. It is like the punk rocker who, every Sunday, returns to his middle class suburban home and asks his mother to cook him lunch and do his laundry.

And yet at times the album is thoroughly enjoyable. When Metric stop pretending to be hip and start doing snappy, zesty pop songs, they sound their best. All too often the tendency to pander to the hipster crowd takes over though, and it is this which prevents the album from reaching its full potential. Every time I listen to this I keep waiting for certain tracks to come on so that I can enjoy them. In the meantime I have to listen to tracks which offer nothing different from a thousand other scruffy looking female-fronted indie bands with that carefully studied unwashed, just got out of bed and threw on these clothes look that is so bloody contrived it makes you want to retch.

I have always been drawn to the independent side of modern music as a reaction to the vapid banality of the mainstream. At times, independent music has briefly forced itself through and demanded the attention of a wider audience. Of late, and 2009 was one of the worst examples to date, it has been content to wallow in its own uniqueness without realising that there is nothing unique when sixty other bands release albums which sound the same while its members all adopt the same pout on the promotional photos. I have come to the conclusion that indie music as we know it is dying. It is a slow death, and it is going to be a painful one. But it is a death nonetheless.
Rating: 6/10

Review:

on 2009-10-06 dadair Said:

Review of Gimme Sympathy
It is a wonder why other bands who suffer from getting too involved in the band that tensions start to arise, dont do a Metric and go off and experiment in solo, work and ranging side projects including the fresh and vibrant Juno sound-tracking , Broken Social Scene. This is in the case of singer Emily Haines and guitarist James Shaw, not to mention Bang Lime, the hobby horse of drummer Joules Scott-Key and bassist, Josh Winstead. The freshness in vibe and approach in recent album Fantasies, of which the stirring 80s pop soiree Gimme Sympathy is a prize plum, represents a great argument for allowing each artist in a group to wander and experiment.

Its difficult to stop yourself shuddering on hearing the first few notes of this stirring single sung by the poets daughter, Haines. It possesses the provocative swagger that Karen-O so often uses to create a swooning and lurid impact. However, the electro kick soon gets fussier and the rat-a-tat percussion makes the perfect background for the vocals to slow down. Effectively underlining the copy-cat decrying and thought provoking lyrics;

Whod you rather be; The Beatles or The Rolling Stones? Ooohhh Seriously,

Youre gonna make mistakes you know?

The quick tempo, catchy spurts give a hint as to why they were good tour mates for The Killers recently. Metric, if anything has an extra spring in their step now and this will surely take them even further forward, but theres sure to be a few side (project) steps along the way too.
Not Rated

on 2009-03-27 Trismus Said:

Any of you guys in a committed relationship have that agreement with your spouse that allows you to cheat on them with one celebrity if the impossible should happen and place you in that perfect scenario? Yeah, well i am, do, and my pick is Emily Haines (my wife's is Maynard James Keenan). Probably shouldn't be announcing that on the internet but, what the hey, it just might increase my chances.
Alright, now that that's out there, my bias is clear. I ordinarily wouldn't like a band like Metric but, because of the lovely Ms. Haines, I'm all about them and she has never sounded sexier than on Fantasies. I agree with Kearns' picks on songs almost entirely. Some of them just don't offer much but the ones that do: forget it. I almost hit my wife in the forehead with my wedding ring as I was bolting for a plane to Canada.
Rating: 7/10

Review:

on 2009-03-27 dscanland Said:

Metric is an interesting band. They've got a huge following and yet they remain fiercely independent. Not sure if that makes them strange or admirable. Regardless, I really enjoyed their debut album and haven't been taken by anything since, that is until I was sent Fantasies, their newest album that the band has chosen to self-release.

The more I listen to Fantasies the more I think this will be the album that will get Metric mass love and praise. Their lead single, "Help I'm Alive" really sets the tone for the album. There are a lot of really subtle changes in this track that make you excited for the next change-up. What has changed between this album and their previous few? I can't quite put my finger on it but it is different. It just seems like the production on Fantasies is so much more refined and ALL of the songs are solid and fun. "Sick Muse" has a good driving beat and energetic feel to it. Then I think the most solid track on Fantasies is "Satellite Mind". Emily Haines' voice really sounds sensual on this track (hard to imagine, I know). Then "Twilight Galaxy" the opt for a very percussion driven track. "Gold Guns Girls" takes on a furious fever with a metronomic pace.

Really, I think any Metric fan will feel that Fantasies may even be a superior album to Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? If you haven't heard Metric and relish in good indie-pop then Fantasies is the place to start. It's a very solid and enjoyable album.
Rating: 9/10