Let me just preface this whole review by saying that I had never listened to this band before I saw them in concert on Monday night. The first time I ever heard one of their songs was Monday morning. Fortunately, I made the right decision in seeing this band live. They had so much energy and charisma that I couldn’t help but check out their new cd yesterday when I had the time.
Quite frankly, I don’t know what genre this new CD falls into. Metric as a band has been called anything from Post-Punk to New Wave. To be honest, I would just place this album in the indie rock category with an asterick with the asterick indicating where I think indie rock will end up. Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not calling this album revolutionary in anyway, but I think that this is a good sign of what we might see from some other bands. The thing that makes this cd stand out are some electronic beats and some major use of the synth. In fact, I think we have already seen it before with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs new album, and if I had to say, Metric’s new CD sounds very similar to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. However, Metric frontwoman Emily Haines sounds much differently than Karen O, and quite frankly, I prefer Emily Haines exponentially. There is something about her voice that just grabs your attention. When Matt and I were on our way to the concert and listening to some of the new cd, I asked him if she was singing through a filter or had her voice altered in someway post production. He assured me that that is how she sounds and he was right.
Back to Fantasies. The album opener, Help, I’m Alive, is thrilling. It’s a melodic masterpiece which seems to have an endless number of sections to it, each being equally amazing. Sick Muse, and Satellite mind are both sweet up tempo rocking tracks. However, the hidden gem of the whole cd and the song that firmed up my position on the whole cd was the song Twilight Galaxy. It’s a slow tempo, electronic infused killer. There is nothing I can say about it that it can’t say for itself…Just go listen to it. Metric then throws in another single worthy stunner in Gimme Sympathy. This is just another great melodic pop jubilee. However, the lyrics to this song are what make it stand out in my mind. It’s a call to originality, as pointed out by Emily Haines in concert. “Who would you rather be: The Beatles or the Rolling Stones?” Don’t take the question literally because it isn’t really a question at all, but more a knock at most bands nowadays. Finally, the album comes to a climatic close with Stadium Love. This song is just kick ass. Emily Haines tosses in some more melodic vocals and a catchy little chantesque part to close the album.
All in all, this album is probably my favorite album of 2009 next to Passion Pit’s LP. Note: I only mentioned the stand out songs to me on the album. Every song on this CD is good at worst. When it comes down to it, if you dig the Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, a heavy dose of Synth and Raw Indie Rock, A Sexy Front Lady with Vocals that make me question divinity, and are a sucker for a catchy Pop Melody (Oh boy am I ever), then this is an album for you.
9.2/10
