Tag: yeg

20 years later, Metric’s debut album is more relevant than ever

Posted on by Brizsa

I’m revisiting some of my favorite albums of all time and Metric’s “debut” Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? is up first.
Released September 2nd, 2003, I was just starting the last year of my middle school nightmare and this album could not have come at a better time. 20 years later, I’m sitting here questioning what these lyrics mean to me and hating how relevant the messages are today.

Metric is an Indie Rock Canadian band, born out of Toronto, ON and consisting of 4 members; Vocals & Synth by front woman Emily Haines, Guitar & vocals by James Shaw, Joshua Winstead on the bass, and drummer Joules Scott-Key.

Before they were Metric, Haines  & Shaw were a duo, ironically named, Mainstream.

They released a self-titled EP in 1998 before changing their name to Metric. The drum machines were not especially conducive to good live shows, so they remained a studio band until they finally recruited a drummer and played their first live shows in New York in 2001. Their bassist joined them at the end of 2002.

Let’s start with “debut”.

It is Metric’s first album release but it was not their first album written. Grow Up & Blow Away was written in 2001 but was delayed for years by their label and later released in 2007 on Last Gang records. Which means that their third album was really their first.

This is particularly interesting to me because while I consider myself to be a big Metric fan all around, these 2 albums were personal standouts. I have them both on vinyl and am more familiar with them than any of their other works. Knowing now that they are their first 2… it just makes more sense. They’re stylistically and poetically very similar – and I love them both more than anything else Metric has ever done.

OWU,WAYN? was recorded in Elgonix Labs in Los Angeles, CA and produced by Michael Andrews. It spans over 10 tracks and just under 40 minutes and was released by Enjoy Records at the time, now called Everloving Records.

Upon release, critics were quick to call them musical elitists

and discuss their place in the indie pop rock subculture and how, even though this album brings nothing new to the table, Metric is judging music as it is. I find this opinion to be shallow and ridiculous – a quick judgment from journalists jumping to release a piece about their first single like it’s the basis of the entire album.

The single I’m referring to, ‘dead disco’, in which the lyrics are saying that the roots of disco, funk, and rock & roll are dead and everything is just a reproduction of inspiration. All the while, the message is backed by disco inspired beats, funky bass, and rock & roll inspired guitar. Is it possible they’re being sarcastic? And what about all of the other tracks?

I’ll agree that, as a whole, nothing about the sound is special or innovative but it is guaranteed to get stuck in your head and get your foot tapping.

Isn’t music all about making something catchy and fun while getting your message across?

Haine’s voice is bored, sassy, and feels retro while spewing about a country run by political propaganda and a love that cannot be – the mix is entrancing.

These 2 diverse messages are expressed in such a beautiful way. In Succexy: “All we do is talk, sit, switch screens, as the homeland plans enemies” – she is saying that the ‘enemies’ that we’re so proud to fight and defeat, are simply countries with something that our politicians want to control. We are not fighting enemies, we are fighting their defense against their enemy (that’s us, baby).

Is Metric still this political and melodramatically in love?

Maybe something to explore as I am less familiar with their recent discography beyond the few singles that have hit our kitchen-radio over the years. I love how her lines mean nothing and everything so often at the same time. I love this album more than ever. You should listen to it again right now.

Bye!

New song, ‘Daylight’ by Roll The Bones – OUT NOW!

Posted on by Brizsa

I drive 3 minutes across my neighborhood and end up at the cuuuutest little green house to hangout at a Roll The Bones band rehearsal. They’re in the basement, and I can hear them as I walk up to meet a guy that looks as lost as me at the front door.

They’re trying out a new guitar player. His name is Joe, he is very polite, and I have no idea if he passed the test that day. We decide they probably can’t hear us so we wait. I’m awkward so I think I talked the whole time. 

Finally, Bri opens the door with a corgi at her feet and welcomes us in. The house is just as cute inside! 

I’m here because they’re releasing a new single called Daylight “in the next few weeks”, but mostly because I just think they’re cool, and we should talk about them.

Nash Calvert, Maxwell Evans, Bri Huot, Mark Boer of Roll The Bones

So, I’m sweating in their basement

and I realize I forgot my earplugs even after being reminded to bring them! Thankfully, they had some to give me. But if you’re reading this right now – you are not too cool for hearing loss! Please use earplugs! At every show! Hearing protection is hot!!

After playing through a few songs that I recognize, they decide they’re ready to sit and chat for a bit. We go upstairs and, daringly, out the back door.
But this is Edmonton. The mosquitos are too much!

We end up sat at the kitchen table and, seriously – who’s house is this? It is actually adorable. Wish I took a picture of them around that table. Missed opportunity.

Roll The Bones started as a duo

with Maxwell Evans singing & playing guitar, and the “best guitarist in the band” on drums, Mark Boer. Meeting how regular people meet – by nerding out over each other’s gear. Mark was not a drummer but says, “someone had to do it,” after they had tried out some actual drummers, but decided they were just giving too much… talent, I suppose.
“There’s some truth to that. Roll The Bones is guitar and vocals, it is not a drum band,” says Max.

They  were a duo for a while, but then brought in a bass player, and then a second guitar. When recording these singles, it was just the four of them. If you’ve seen them live recently, you know there is a very important piece missing there.

Roll The who? That’s Bri Huot’s band, right?

Bri is the band’s newest member – her first time performing with them being at that same show earlier in the year at Temple. They’re all quick to let me know that she has completely transformed their sound.

She’d been to every show, was dating Mark, and during rehearsals, she was hanging out upstairs. “I was upstairs sewing and singing the songs to myself. I’d just sing all the harmonies,” she says.
One day, Mark thought the band could benefit from a rehearsal with her and invited her down to join them. “Bri has great rhythm, she’s a great person to have on your team, and she can harmonize with anyone. And it felt so good,” he says. 
And let’s be real – those three part harmonies and her energy with that tambourine are the only reason I’m sitting in this kitchen.
She doesn’t want to make a big deal of it, but seems proud to sometimes be the one woman on a bill, representing and bringing the fucking energy.

In the recordings

all vocals are sung by Maxwell, and they’re playing to a click track. Click tracks can be restrictive for a band that really favours live performance. “The thing is that Max as a player, is very indecisive with where he wants to take the rhythm. You have to be at his beck and call, always ready to speed it up. Or slow it down. That’s part of our charm and chemistry. I am mostly following him like just a fraction behind to see where he’s gonna go and just help facilitate it. But speeding up and slowing down is just part of our sound,” says Mark.

“Our recordings are good but our live performances are something else,” says Max.

“If people like the recorded versions, they’re going to come to a show and have their face melt off,” says Nash Calvert, their bass player.

I couldn’t agree more and I love that they all felt so passionately about that topic specifically. Their recordings are good because Roll The Bones’ songs are genuinely really good. That said, I can confirm my face did, in fact, melt off and you’d have to see them live to realllyyy understand the essence of Roll The Bones.

Their newest release, ‘Daylight’

is out now, October 9th, 2023. It’s about seeing someone across a crowded room, uncertain about where it could go but they’re gone before anything can truly happen. Inspired not by romantic comedies, but by simply being in many crowded rooms.

Max wrote it and  says that it quickly changed into what it is now after playing it through acoustically. “It was initially a lot slower and the chorus was very different. We completely modified the structure of the song together.”

It is another great song from the band, and if you’ve seen them live and appreciated their unique sound, you probably already know it.

What’s the plan for Roll The Bones?

“I think for right now – it’s just continuing the creative growth. We have this album done and, with this lineup, I’d like to get another EP out there. We just want the music out to more people and not staying stagnant. That’s pretty much the goal,” says Max. “I mean, fuck, a little tour would be cool, too!”

An album done? Does anyone know anything about this?

Make sure you give them a follow in Instagram, stream their music, and I’ll see you at their next show.

Love ya!