resting on smoke alarms

random title? i don't think so...

alright, i don't often review cds or shows on this little bloggy thing here but i am feeling compelled to at THIS EXACT moment!

but get this...i am going to discuss a LIVE show and a cd at the SAME time...you guys are SOOOO effin' lucky..

heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere we go!

METRIC
'live it out' (last gang records, 2005)
AND
METRIC live at starlite room, october 25, 2005

in the october 13th issue of vue weekly tyson kaban claims that:

"I knew Metric’s 2003 release, Old World Underground, Where Are You Know? had worn out its welcome when my sister started singing along with “Combat Baby” on my car stereo one day. And when a girl whose musical tastes are exclusively Reba starts mouthing along with Emily Haines’s political diatribes, it was clear the group had ventured into dangerous territory: the mainstream.

Thankfully, their latest album, Live It Out, is just inaccessible enough to keep them on the periphery, where indie music snobs can still safely claim to like them without the fear of their teenage siblings adopting them as their band du jour."

and while i'll be the first to admit that i am an indie snob this is NOT a reason to like an album. 'well, my little sister won't like this so it must be AWESOME!'

i tried really hard to like this album, really hard. i LOVE 'old world underground, where are you now?'. i still listen to it like mad. so in my attempt to fall equally in love with 'live it out' i realised something. 'live it out' is a lazy collection of b-sides to 'old world...'. it isn't a b-side collection but it sure sounds like it. it's a haphazard collection of the tricks that made 'old world...' so great. the sheen is there, the hooks are there, the politics are there but none of them are THERE.

am i sounding vague? what i mean is that while there is nothing expressly wrong with this album it expands and offers nothing in the way of new territory for the band. to me it's a collection of, 'well this worked in the past...' sound and the second time around it doesn't work nearly as well.

same thing with the live show.

last night's show was the first of THREE sold-out shows at edmonton's starlite room.

opening for metric was the most serene republic. they were LOVELY. lush, energetic, FAN-TASTIC! we missed the first band (the lovely feathers) and i decided, in between bands, that it's not all-ages shows that annoy me (i totally love them in fact) it's the girls at all ages shows involving popular bands. only at shows like metric will girls stand in the bathroom and worry about their hair. at a great all-ages punk show the girls will be in the pit right alongside the boys!

back to metric.

i saw metric the first time in 2002 or 2003 when they, and the unicorns, opened for hot hot heat. it was an awesome show. we danced, we sang along, we rocked the fuck out. last night's show was much like how i feel about their album: not terrible but nothing in comparison to their previous stuff. lacklustre is a pretty good word. choreographed is good too. essentially they were resting on their laurels knowing they had an eager crowd at their feet.

i agree with the uber-sexy emily haines when she says 'fight off the lethargy'...take your own advice em.

there were moments last night when i watched the smoke detectors to see if they flashed in time with the bass drum. they did about 42% of the time.

xx m.