Metric Live @ The Mod Club - 4/14/09 + Fantasies Review

I have to send out a huge, heartfelt thank-you to 102.1 The Edge, a modern rock station based in Toronto, Canada. They provided me with free tickets to see my all time favourite band, Metric, at The Mod Club last night.

They say that the best place to see this band perform is inside a club, where the performance is more intimate and audience-focused. I would have to agree. The band's trademark energy was in full appearance during this show, and the crowd was absolutely wild.

Holy Fuck played from about 8:15pm for about 45 minutes. After 20 minutes of audience frustration building due to technical problems (the keyboards weren't working), Emily Haines and Co. took the stage, and the audience went crazy.

They opened up with a performance of Twilight Galaxy, a song that is considered controversial amongst Metric fans.This particular audience adored it, however. I've warmed up considerably to the now mandatory breakdown at the end of the song. Rarely have I ever been inspired to dance so wildly.

The band followed that up with equally exciting performances of hit single Help I'm Alive, the one song on Fantasies I don't care for, Satellite Mind, and Live It Out favourite Handshakes. Oddly absent was the definitive Metric track, Combat Baby. Every song on Fantasies got its time under the Mod Club lights, save for Blindness.

Metric encored with 2005 hit Monster Hospital (feet left the floor), and the arbitrary sing-a-long version of Live It Out, which had the entire club on the floor shouting along the lyrics while Emily stroked a pair of cougar statues...




Emily waves the tambourine to "Help I'm Alive"


"I dont' need your fuckin' Sympathy, but I'll play the song anyway!"



Can't have a band without the bass player [and the drummer]!
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METRIC
FANTASIES
Copyright 2009 Metric Productions under exclusive license to Last Gang Records

Indie Days Rating --> 4/5

The Good: Good balance of musical types; Metric sound not compromised; Surprisingly deep writing; Vocal range much greater; Sounds more like a "band-effort" than previous albums; Lots of potential hits

The Bad: Some of the lyrics are cringe-worthy; Teeters on the brink of over-production; Sounds as though Metric is fishing for mainstream attention

It has been a long, long time. Four years to be exact. Sure, 2007 saw the release of Grow Up and Blow Away, but that had been recorded years back.

Enter 2009, and Metric has made a triumphant return with the first new album since 2005's Live It Out. And it's clear, even to anyone who hasn't been following this album since its 2007 announcement, that so much more effort went into this baby. Okay, so maybe effort is the wrong word. Let's say the band had much more at their disposal to work with for this record.

Fantasies worked its way through seven different studios, with mixing by Grammy award-winning producer John O'Mahony (who most recently mixed the smash Coldplay album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends). The production is much, much bigger, and the band decided to forgo the record labels (except for in Canada and Mexico) and release it independently.

But was all of this really for the better of the album? The answer is, well, yes! Sure, longtime Metric fans may be turned off by the higher production values and the focus on hooky potential hits (Help I'm Alive, Sick Muse, Gimme Sympathy), that are just begging for radio airplay, but every fan will find something to love on Fantasies.

Overall, the album does shine, very, very bright. Despite the bigger production, that Metric sound is very much still here, albeit with a shiny coat of high-gloss paint. It is more refined, more polished, and a hell of a lot of fun to hear. Stadium Love is definitely meant for the stage, and it will be joined comfortably by the oddly un-Metric sounding Front Row and potential smash Sick Muse.

But the bulb on the album's cover burns brightest when the lights are turned down. Twilight Galaxy, Blindess, and Collect Call can still cause rump-shaking action at shows even though the songs themselves are more subdued and quiet.

Frontwoman Emily Haines that the writing on Fantasies is the simplest she has ever done, and for the most part, yes that's true. Help I'm Alive's ABCBCA routine is kind of a head-scratcher, and standout track Twilight Galaxy contains a lyric that will send groans all around ("I'm higher than high / Lower than deep"). Simple though it may be, the writing is just as clever and referential as it will ever be. The age old question "Who would you rather be / The Beatles or The Rolling Stones?", flows perfectly on the poppy Gimme Sympathy, and the lyrics of Blindness are especially moving.

Great though Fantasies is, it's not without its problems. The production that I've driveled on about in this review walks the dangerously thin line between "strong" and "way too fucking much". Satellite Mind is an example of that line. As is usual with Metric, the songs will hold up live based purely on the band's insane energy, but fresh-eared listeners may notice the ups and downs.

Fantasies signifies an explosive return for the little indie-rock band with the sexy frontwoman that could. It's by no means perfect, but I don't think it is so far-fetched the call it the best Metric album to date.

To anyone who is reading this, here is a question: How many people do you think will cry "sell-outs" when this album hits the Billboard 200?

Fantasies Track Listing [* indicates Indie Days fav]
1. "Help I'm Alive"
2. "Sick Muse"*
3. "Satellite Mind"
4. "Twilight Galaxy"*
5. "Gold Guns Girls"
6. "Gimme Sympathy"*
7. "Collect Call"*
8. "Front Row"
9. "Blindness"*
10. "Stadium Love"

What Defines the Indie Genre?

It's the first Friday of  a four day long weekend. The sweet tunes of Metric are playing in my ears, with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Stars, Broken Social Scene, Holy Fuck, The Weakerthans to follow. It's been a relatively nice day compared to the relatively freezing last few days, but it's starting to get chilly, and I long for the coat that's buried under a series of backpacks in the trunk of the four-by-four I'm writing this in.

Myself, my cousin, and my two younger siblings are about an hour into a 15 hour drive to the heart of French Canada, Quebec City. After getting from Brantford to the Hamilton airport, we had to turn around for arbitrary reasons, only to find out right when we got back into town that those arbitrary reasons had quickly become irrelevant.

As the lovely voice of Emily Haines on "Twilight Galaxy" soothe the slight frustrations I've been feeling (while everybody else chills out to Pussycat Dolls), I have a lot of time to reflect on the genre that I've made myself infatuated with over the past couple of years: indie. 

For a long time, when people thought indie, they thought soley this: a musician or band not tied to a record label. In other words, all it meant was: independent.

With the rock revolution of the early 2000's brought about by The Strokes, the meaning of the word has changed significantly. Sure, they are now many artists who don't toil under the commands of record execs, and technically they're still independent, but the style of indie rock and indie pop has evolved enough to become not only its own genre, but its own culture. As with every culture, it has its extremists. Indie kids their extremists as: hipsters. 

I love to hate the goddamn hipsters. Jeph Jacques, writer of the infamous online comic Questionable Content came up with a delightful tidbit about hipsters he calls, "The Theory of Hipster Relativity". The theory states (and this is quite true), that because hipsters believe that the quality of a musician is dependent on how obscure they are to the public, theoretically, the best band in the world would be the one that absolutely no one has heard of. Therefore, if no one has heard of them, they don't exist.

Hipsters suck, plain and simple. Indie cred, by association, is ludicrous. They think it makes them sound smarter, just because they can name a band that make chart-lurkers scratch their heads in confusion? Hedley? Hell no, I listen to Dead Child Star. Nickelback? Please, Sufan Stevens is where its at!

Hipsters are what define the indie subculture. As such, all indie kids are associated with hipsters. This is not a fair comparison. Why should anyone's musical tastes be based upon the credibility of the band's obscurity? They are ruining our subculture, one chart-bottoming "sell-out" at a time.

Just so you know, the new album from Metric, Fantasies, came out this past Tuesday. GO BUY IT!!! I don't care how shameless I'm being in my promotion of this band, they're awesome. Natch.

"Gimme Sympathy" Music Video

"Help I'm Alive" and "Front Row" are the two songs that Metric have released onto iTunes as singles from their upcoming (still) fourth effort 'Fantasies'. But it looks like another single is on the way, as the video for one of my personal favourites: "Gimme Sympathy" has appeared. It is the first video from the forthcoming album, and the first since 2007's grossly-edited video for "Empty" (from album 'Live It Out').

The video was uploaded by a couple of Metric superfans onto YouTube. Metric haven't officially posted the video themselves, so it is assumed that a leak is the culprit.

If you kinow the lyrics to the song, the video is actually quite clever. It depicts Emily dressing up and joining her band onstage. As they perform, they suddenly randomly begin to switch places with each other throughout the video. Emily is suddenly drumming while Jimmy is on lead vocals, and Josh playing guitar instead of bass. I'll have to admit, the random little kids in butterly suits at the end don't make a damn thing of sense, but hell, it's fun to watch.

VIDEO - Metric: "Gimme Sympathy"

Metric - `Fantasies` Advance Preview

In light of a recent album leak (which I hope none of you participated in), Metric posted their full, 100% completed fourth album, Fantasies, for listen on their MySpace page. Because MySpace is not an ideal place to go into an in-depth analysis of an album and review it, I`ll just be posting my first impression of the tracks until my legal digital download or physical copy arrives sometime in the next couple of weeks.

Help I`m Alive: First single and album opener, `Help I`m Alive`, is an interesting piece of work. This song has been heavily promoted by the band and made a surprising impact on Canadian modern rock radio. The song seems to betray Emily`s belief that this record conveys a sense of optimism, though it definitely represents the simplicity that Metric is striving for with Fantasies. The first verse and chorus simply repeat themselves before the song closes at almost five minutes in length. Not the best writing this band has ever done, but its a capable song that will be remembered as one of Metric`s greats.

Sick Muse: It`s not often Metric writes songs about romance, but the lyrics to the second track `Sick Muse`certainly imply the romantic touch this album has given: `Watch out Cupid stuck me with a sickness`. It`s a very energetic piece with surprisingly little use of synths, a strong point of this band.

Satellite Mind: Another one of my personal favourites. Excellent writing, and lots of wicked energy. This is also one of the few songs on the record that doesn`t appear to have undergone major changes throughout its development.

Twilight Galaxy: I adore this song! Fantasies is ripe with hot, intense energy, so its nice to hear a song that takes a moment to slow shit down and propel a nice ballad, something I haven`t heard from Metric since `Calculation (Theme)`. Really synth-y, and clever writing make this a song I`m itching to download but can`t, as it goes against my values: `Did I ask you for attention, when affection is what I need`

Gold Guns Girls: Emily Haines picks up a guitar! It`s true! Definitely one of `Fantasies`guitar heavy tracks, `Gold Guns Girls`questions all of the people in the world who are too difficult to please. Another example of excellent writing. It really is a great song, but I could do without all of the extra guitars. More isn`t always better.

Gimme Sympathy: Fans will be torn between this song. If you liked the original version that was also known as (The Hooks), then you will be extremely disappointed, because it was completely re-written and re-shaped into something totally new. I love it. It`s real sunshine-y day, convertible top down material.

Collect Call: Another calm little ballad, and another weirdly romance-themed track. To be totally honest, it took a few listens before this one grew on me. Reminds me of `Live It Out`s `Police and the Private`, which is a good thing, because that was one of the previous album`s stand-out tracks.

Front Row: Grey`s Anatomy knows how to choose its tunes. `Front Row`is an excellent piece of indie-rock, praising the burnouts who still make an impact in people`s lives: ``Burnout stars, they shine so bright``.

Blindness: Another standout track, `Blindness` glorifies the reluctant heroine: ``I was the blindfold, who never complained``. I love the crescendo from a single guitar and Haines`haunting vocals to an explosion of instrumentation as Emily inwardly groans about the life she leads.

Stadium Love: In proper Metric fashion, they leave listeners with a fist-pumping anthem as an album closer. You can tell that this song was meant for the stage, and in that sense, it represents what Metric is as a band: meant for the stage. It exhausts a very special energy that leaves you wanting to hear more but realizing the album is over.

Overall, Fantasies is shaping up to be the best album this band has ever put out. It is also the album that has the come the closest to being able to capture Metric`s dangerous live energy. Look for it on April 7th, 2009 across Canada and the United States.

Album Leaks -- Why?!

It's a cold day outside. You curl up in front of the TV, your computer, your video games, or a book, or whatever. and you listen to old music by your favourite band.

Why? Well, you are preparing for the release of their next album! You are SO excited. A whole bunch of new tunes to obsess over, to download as your ringtone, to wake up to in the morning. You've saved up more than enough cash to buy the record when it comes out a month from now. Hell, maybe you even pre-ordered it!

But what's this? You've just been informed that you can get this album really, really early, thanks to some random file-sharing website. You really love this band, and you want to support them, but you don't want to wait forever for that album either!

What do you do?

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Meet the horror that is the album leak, possibly the only thing I hate more than the bastards at Pitchfork Media. Basically, some hacker rips the music from the hands of the label or musician, and posts it around so all the punks who are too lazy to scrounge up fifteen bucks can have it. The artist(s) involve usually retaliate against album leaks by pushing the release dates forward... but does that really stop the little internet pirates of the world?

Exhibit A: Yeah Yeah Yeahs were scheduled to the release their much-awaited third album, It's Blitz!, on April 14th, 2009. The album was leaked to the net about a week ago. So, YYYs had no choice but to launch the digital album early, and push the physical release forward to March 31st.

Exhibit B: If you're a fan of Metric, you were probably no doubt poised to have a heart attack in anticipation for their fourth album, Fantasies, a record that's been in the making for more than two long years. It was ready to go for April 14th, 2009 (the same day as It's Blitz!). And then, just when people had a mere month to go before its launch, it gets leaked. Despite the fact that it could have been pre-ordered in five awesome packages (including a very enticing Limited Deluxe Edition, which is on its way to my door), people rushed to the file sharing sites to get their illegal copy, including the special tracks that were supposed to have been an incentive to buy the damn thing. Metric retaliated by posting the whole album for listen on their MySpace, which kind of defeats the purpose of releasing it.

Album leaks are wrong, and should be ignored. If you're a fan of a band, artist, label toy, whatever, that should be enough for you to contribute to their cause, no matter how much or how little they deserve it. All of the bands (indie or otherwise) who struggle to obtain a record label or launch an album on their own, have to watch as hundreds, even thousands download it off of mininova or wherever.

These people love making music, but they gotta make a living too, shocking though it may seem. Please, please support today's musicians and do not participate in album leaks!

Metric and Yeah Yeah Yeahs Links:

Metric's MySpace: http://myspace.com/metric
Yeah Yeah Yeah's MySpace: http://myspace.com/yeahyeahyeahs
Metric - Help I'm Alive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoK63Bk7pgw
Metric - Gimme Sympathy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FLb6GGm2qFw
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Zero (video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-lCL9EIhZ4&fmt=18

Indie Days vs. Katy Perry

Consider my crusade to debunk the musical relevance of Katy Perry BEGUN!

I've done my homework, and according to Wikipedia (a source whose relevance in itself is questionable), Katy Perry began her career as a legit musician (HA!) as Katy Hudson, a gospel-rock singer. That's right, Ms. Perry used to join hundreds of priests (her parents were pastors, no less) in trying to convert people to the corruption I like to call religion. Far cry from the bi-curious whore we love to hate, isn't it?

Eventually, she realized that keeping her clothes on and being a decent human being wasn't going to make her the star that she wanted to be. So what did she do? Well, she stripped down to her kinkiest lingerie and began crooning about how much she just loves making out with girls.

With last year's horrid hits "Ur So Gay", and "I Kissed a Girl", the attention of the male audience and the exploding dance-pop crowd had been grabbed. Her record label had another success story to parade around.

Evidently, Perry is a guitarist, and she even had the privilege of playing last year's Warped Tour... say what?! I turned a blind eye to the inclusion of Paramore in that tragic set list, but this I cannot abide by.

Perry's club-happy dance tunes are hardly Warped Tour fare. Just because you play them with an electric guitar on stage and have a band behind you doesn't make it rock music. But hey, it's hard to carry those giant synthesizers around!

If anyone of Katy's loyal fans stepped onto the Warped Tour grounds, the sights, the smells, and the mosh pits would scare them off in but an instant. Is anyone going to mosh to "Thinking of You"? No, I don't think so!

As with many of music's biggest modern sensations, Katy Perry relies on sexuality to push record sales and gain radio airplay. Never heard "I Kissed a Girl"? Obviously, you've been living under a rock, good reader. If Justin Timberlake wrote a song about making out with boys, it would considered filth, but remember gay guys are gross, and gay girls are hot. Never forget this strikingly important fact.

Also, she makes heavy use of vocal modifiers and distortion to make herself sound much, much better, another trait used commonly by today's biggest acts. Have you heard this woman perform her hit "Hot 'N' Cold" live? If you haven't, spare your poor, innocent ears the pain.

One thing I (unfortunately) can't fault Katy Perry for is the fact that she writes her own songs. However, I can fault her for the atrocious lyrics she writes. ("Ur So Gay and you don't even like penis!")("...You're hot and you're cold/You're yes then you're no/You're in then you're out/You're up and you're down") The aforementioned lyrics could've been written by anybody who knows how to make a the cheesiest contradiction possible. Hilary Duff, Lady GaGa... take note!

So, with her disgusting use of sexuality, her blatant disregard for intelligent writing, and the shameless and heavily noticeable use of vocal modifiers, can Katy Perry truly be considered a legit musician. If anybody's reading this, sound off in the poll!

--Devin General

External Katy Perry links:

"I Kissed a Girl" (Video)

"Hot 'N' Cold" (Video)

"Thinking of You" (Video)

"Hot 'N' Cold" @ YouTube Live <-- One of the worst live performances ever