Metric

In spite of having their songs featured on Grey’s Anatomy and participating in a commercial for Polaroid’s I-Zone, Metric’s credibility as a band to be firmly regarded in the bona fide non-sellout category is secure. This much seems verified on their latest release Grow Up and Blow Away. The album, although released in mid-June, is not technically new as it was slated to be Metric’s debut album in 2001.
Three of the songs on Grow Up, including the title track, “Soft Rock Star,” and “London Half Life,” are featured on the Static Anonymity EP. Due to a record label shuffle, the band ended up releasing Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? in lieu of Grow Up after two more years of seeking a stable record company (eventually Last Gang Records).

Grow Up and Blow Away does not exude the sound of a freshman album and one might never surmise as much from listening to it. With the exception of “Rock Me Now,” which relies on backing vocals from bassist James Winstead, all of the tracks on Grow Up are the undoubted counterparts of the material on Old World and Live It Out.

The unique voice of Emily Haines is reminiscent of Debbie Harry’s on the second track of Grow Up entitled “Hardwire.” Harry and Haines’ vocals are somewhat kindred in that neither seems to actually try at singing, but rather each allows the vocals to flow from them organically and without artifice.

Similarities between certain tracks on Metric’s previous LP, Live It Out, are also detectable. “White Gold,” a down tempo song with Haines’ languid voice narrating, “We’re here for the porn and the sirloin” bears an odd parallel to Live It Out's “Patriarch on a Vespa”. Haines’ voice can rarely be described as ardent or visceral, save for on the popular “Monster Hospital,” wherein she repeated “I fought the war/I fought the war/I fought the war/But the war won’t stop for the love of God.” Although such guttural vocals are nonexistent here on Grow Up, it does seem a bit more melancholic than their other releases; “London Half Life” being the most notable departure from Metric’s usually upbeat sound. The song is an unmistakable reference to the time Metric spent in London after being solicited to sign with Chrysalis in 2000. After the label pushed the band in a direction tailored toward mass consumption, Metric opted to pass on the deal. The track is a thinly disguised lamentation on the loss of success and the preservation of artistic integrity as Haines croons, “Oh watch out/You’re only better off with half your life otherwise wasted/House of cards you fall hard.”

The most radio-friendly song on the album is “Soft Rock Star,” perhaps an unconscious ode to Canadian compatriot Celine Dion with lyrics like, “Please correct me but didn’t you let the work slide?/Capitalize on a novelty, cheap pink spotlight.” Another more overt jibe on the album is “Parkdale,” named after a suburb in Canada. Metric points out the homogeneity of the town, noting sardonically, “We almost forgot/Every building is a shop/Every person is a shopper.” Access to this song is still limited in the states being that “Parkdale” is not available on the iTunes version of the album. So are the mysterious and inane ways of the Apple corporation.


Grow Up and Blow Away, although distinguishable from Metric’s prior releases, is inherently similar to other musical offerings in their rapidly expanding repertoire. It is a more than adequate third album, even if it was not intended as such. Metric seems destined to set an example for bands from all walks of life; bands that should acknowledge the difference between evolving their sound and consciously altering it to fit into some sort of preconceived mold of what an “indie” group should be.

by Genna Rivieccio

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