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Metric, 40 Watt, 3/13/06
by The Bridge  photo by Stephanie Martin Haines is the lead singer and - let's face it - main attraction of the dance-pop champions that are Metric, a band with strong ties to uber-cool canucks Stars and Broken Social Scene. If you're gonna compare them to one or the other, Metric has more in common with Stars, but they are their own distinct entity, attacking the dance floor politic with less wispy whimsy than Stars, and way more sex. They took the stage pretty late for a spring break Monday night, which would ordinarily be a bum gig in a collegiate place like Athens, GA. The doors - slated to open at nine - stayed shut until at least half-past, due to openers Men Women & Children, whom, the door girl informed me, still had equipment spread out all over the floor at nine. Around ten I finally got to sample the fratboy disco-kitsch that is Men Women & Children, which seemed to me to be heavy on the children. A group of absolute dudes who were undoubtedly younger than the seventies duds they sported trotted out a bunch of white-boy cheese rock that made me wonder if perhaps I had fallen into a wormhole in the space time continuum of Athenian night life, transporting me to last Thurdsday night at the Georgia Theater, where G. Love and the Special Sauce checked to see if anyone still cared. (About that: no.) I'll give them this: the lead singer had a pretty convincing falsetto, and the whole band seemed to believe they were funny. But their set's most memorable tune owed all of its catchiness to a bass line lifted from Blur's "Girls and Boys." The sound guy, watching from the sidelines, mused over the fact that it's generally the goofy, jokey bands that are the least fun to work with. "Serious singer-songwriter types, they're always the ones with a sense of humor at sound check. Vic Chestnutt, you know..." He gazed absently at Men Women & Children, who were wrapping up their brief set with various peacock poses. Islands were next, and, once again, the stage was filled with kids to whom I'd hesitate to serve a beer. However, these guys were actually good. Really good. A playful seven piece with an E-6ish sensibility, they were fronted by Nick Diamonds (a.k.a. Nicholas Thorburn of the late Unicorns, who led the band with authority and style. He's a quirky kid that will inevitably remind folks of Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes, with his shiny bowl cut and absent-minded professor-cum-rock-star stage persona. The rest of the band features two violinists (Alex and Sebastian Chow) who sounded to me to be a cut above what you'll usually find in this sort of large, grab-bag rock band on string duty, in terms of control and finesse; a bassist (Patrice Agbokou) who could fight Prince to the death for the right to wear girly hats onstage and still look badass; and a lot of really good songs. Indie-pop stuff with neo-psychedelica flourishes, Islands specializes in majestic and manically danceable all-hands-on-deck jams with clever lyrics. The tune "I Feel Evil" was a standout, beginning softly, with Diamonds hissing ominously about how his blood is dirty and he likes it that way. The hook - "I feel evil creeping in" - built quickly into a nicely psychotic rocker. There's a lot of talent here, especially in the person of Nick Diamonds. If you get a chance, the Islands are worth visiting.  photo by Stephanie Martin  photo by Rich Merritt Metric will be happy to show you how. This is most definitely music for your hormones. The lyrics, meanwhile, have a simplistic, witty oomph that translated the sheer verve of Metric's groove into sentiments that the audience connected with instantly. In the showstopping song "I Fought the War", when Haines bellowed "I fought the war/But the war won't stop!," the crowd screamed its concurrence. Haines was not in control of the crowd because every guy there wanted to, you know, know her (although God knows they certainly did - I've never been surrounded by so many guys at a 40 Watt show before, and I saw the Melvins). She was in command because the lady knew how to work a crowd. For one thing, she can headbang like a mothafucka, while simultaneously rocking the synthesizer, mind you, and she had a penchant for punctuating the beats with kung-fu Rockette high kicks, and just generally dancing around like the world's coolest cheerleader - the one who woulda won M.V.P. at the state cheer-offs if she hadn't been kicked off the squad for smoking pot on the school bus. It's also worth mentioning that a singer with a really good voice is a great secret weapon for a dance-pop outfit, as a lot of them tend to have vocalists with thin voices that need a lot of studio support. Not so with Haines, whose kitteny croon was loud, full, and flexible, cooing with velvety smoothness here, a clarion overbuzz there.  photo by Stephanie Martin In short, this band is proof that there's genius in just cutting a rug for the hell of it. Call it what you will - the electroclash label, in my opinion, is just what rock critics say to avoid name-dropping the same New Wavers over and over (like, um, Blondie and New Order). As if no one ever put guitars and synths on the dance floor before the double-0 decade? Whatever. This music is meant to make you jump, and I fully intend to go to their next show wearing less clothing and flailing around much more shamelessly. You should do the same. Let the guileless Haines lead the way. Comments [post a comment]Comments are closed |
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