Sculpture Magazine

It is fairly obvious that whatever Emily and her friends have been trying to accomplish through four albums, they have nailed this time.  From the opening song with its catchy refrain .Like a Hammer. on through the almost comically dense and polished clang of "Stadium Love" Metric have finally measured out what it takes to be perfect pop band.  The Yeah Yeah Yeahs haven't completely figured this out yet. There's still a struggle in that band as to what musical space is most suited to Karen O-guitars? Synths? Banjos? (I would find a better band for her frankly, but I'm just me.)And as for the likes of Paramour and thousands of other terminally she-led pop bands? They have a ways to go frankly.
 

But Metric has arrived.  Fantasies is the perfect title to a collection of pristine, glossy musical confections that, through 10 perfect arrangements of all the tools these type of bands utilize to make sure we all feel the appropriate connections to 80s alternative and current post punk aesthetics, Metric will, no doubt, hit the big time. (My 14 year old is already bouncing through the house, Sansa on, mouthing. "Like a Hammaaa.")
 

While Emily's voice has a terminal innocence to it that will never leave comparison's to Karen O all that valid, the over reaching guitars, the decided attempts to write the perfect alternative pop song, Metric has promoted itself, with this release, right up there with the likes of the YYYs.

And I'm just okay with it.  What was so musically interesting about Live It Out, Metric's previous album, was the space and tension that less production brought to Emily Haines' voice and lyrics.  With the likes of  "Monster Hotel" and  "Poster of a Girl", and even the caustic juxtaposition of  quiet with gouge your face out guitar of the opening track, frankly, Live It Out was one of the finer albums of 2006.
 

Fantasies is more than a bit too calculated and over-engineered.  All 10 songs are safely cleansed of any non-commercial tendencies and then another layer of pleasant noise is added for good measure. From the "lifted from any number of Interpol/She Wants Revenge songs" guitar drone of the opening track, on through the poppy lightness of "Gimme Sympathy" (do alternative folks really sit around musing between the Beatles and the Stones?) this is very close to being the best example of a made-for-an-IPOD-commercial album this year.
 

Hopefully Fantasies is finally Emily and the band exorcising their commercial demons once and for all. It should easily sell gazillions of copies and perhaps Emily can now move past her own personal obsession with being in the limelight, writing about other people being in the limelight, etc. (How many derivatives of "Poster of a Girl" can you glean just from Emily's lyrics on this album alone? Lean close, Emily.You're there! Write about something else!)

There's a good chance stadium love will follow this Metric release but there is also a good chance they will get put in the same category as the Paramours of the world instead of the Arcade Fires of the world.  And this objectification and categorization might well be perfectly fine with Emily and the band at this place and time.  No problem.  I'll wait.  Truly creative people never settle. (I would venture to guess that Emily won't stay completely happy up there very long.)

Track List

01. Help, I'm Alive
02. Sick Muse
03. Satellite Mind
04. Twilight Galaxy
05. Gold Guns Girls
06. Gimme Sympathy
07. Collect Call
08. Front Row
09. Blindness
10. Stadium Love