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Avg: 4.0 (234 ratings)
- Date Released: September 27, 2005
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Label: Last Gang Records
Canadian quartet falls in love with their guitars all over again.
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We Say...
On its second full-length album, the Canadian quartet Metric ups the screeching guitars and pulls back on the synthesizers. The overall effect is the same as it ever was — updated, politically charged new wave with smarts and a mathematical precision that comes from Wire by way of Elastica.
In “Monster Hospital,” about halfway through the album, singer Emily Haines bites a Bobby Fuller line, screaming, “I fought the war, but the war won," over slashing guitars and an irresistible beat. In “Glass Ceiling,” over even more controlled drumming and angular riffage, she wails against political apathy. Her synth is back at the fore in “The Police and the Private,” squiggling out the kind of atmospheric curlicues more commonly found on the band’s debut, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
Perhaps because of its louder guitars and bubblier melodies, Live it Out has been criticized in some quarters for its departure from indie-prescribed notions of experimental. “But as poppy as the song structures and chops are, the music — unconventional melodic twists and turns, and subtle instrumental and vocal punctuation in just the right places — remains as adventurous in its own way as Haines' other creative outlet, Broken Social Scene. In fact, those who swooned over her hissing voice in that band’s “Anthems for a Seventeen Year Old Girl” will get more of it here, particularly in the Breeders-like drive of “Too Little Too Late.” Live It Out is many things, but a sophomore slump it most certainly is not. -
They Say...
In an effort to prove Metric frontwoman Emily Haines was not the only dominating personality behind the Canadian indie rock group's first album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, the second album hammers home the fact that it's more of a group effort. Production duties were handed to guitarist James Shaw and Haines' trademark synths take a back seat to screeching guitars and more cohesive playing as a quartet. Despite the added punk rock punch the guitar gives, the bite of their debut is dulled by a weaker set of songs, with only minor aesthetic changes to mask the slight sophomoric slump. Live It Out desires to be a major step forward (Emily Haines would release her first solo album, Knives Don't Have Your Back, a year later), but the best moments on the album are the ones that recapture what made the debut such a compelling piece of '80s retro -- showcasing Haines' trademark keyboards and her effective cooing vocals, which manage to sound both cloyingly sexy and gutturally raw at the same time. "Poster of a Girl" transforms a few rudimentary French lyrics and an unassuming keyboard intro into a spacy, groovy dance track. "The Police and the Private" is an effectively simple and haunting keyboard-heavy song that shows Haines' best vocal performances are the down to earth ones (something she thankfully discovered on her solo album). As with Old World Underground, Haines has a tendency for collegiate-level prose when the band gets political, and songs like the "Combat Baby" knockoff "Handshakes" have a smug, elitist attitude about them, without providing much insight into their political beliefs. The first single, the hooky "Monster Hospital," is a light-hearted punk song with great non-sequitur lyrics, but the overdubbed guitars and big production typically reserved for an alternative rock album don't fight the overall motif of Live It Out. There's a reason Haines was featured on the cover of Old World Underground and it's possibly this: she's what separates Metric from other '80s revivalist groups.
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| 01. |  |
Empty |
5:53 |
|
| 02. | |
Glass Ceiling |
3:55 |
|
| 03. | |
Handshakes |
3:06 |
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| 04. | |
Too Little Too Late |
4:22 |
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| 05. | |
Poster Of A Girl
|
4:44 |
|
| 06. | |
Monster Hospital
|
3:30 |
|
| 07. | |
Patriarch On A Vespa |
4:32 |
|
| 08. | |
Police And The Private |
3:43 |
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| 09. | |
Ending Start |
3:18 |
|
| 10. | |
Live It Out |
3:43 |
|
10 Total Tracks, 40:46 Total Length
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Credits
- Andy VanDette - Mastering // John O'Mahoney - Producer // John O'Mahoney - Engineer // John O'Mahoney - Mixing // Emily Haines - Keyboards // Emily Haines - Keyboards // Emily Haines - Vocals // Emily Haines - Vocals // Josh Hassin - Package Design // Josh Hassin - Illustrations // Drew Malamud - Engineer // Jimmy Shaw - Guitar // Jimmy Shaw - Producer // Jimmy Shaw - Engineer
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