Album Review: Fantasies

Metric is a Canadian indie rock group that finds its musical style somewhere in between the bubblegum pop of The Blow and the harder side of Broken Social Scene. After four years of absence, they're back with a full-length record called Fantasies. It will be released on April 7th, but we had the opportunity to hear the press copy early. Anyways, here goes-

To be totally honest, I had never listened to Metric before I listened to Fantasies this week. So for those Metric fans out there, you know more about their vibe than I do. From the perspective of a brand new listener, Fantasies is very pop-oriented. Every song has a great big glistening sheen of production on it, at times a little much so. But apart from that, I'm impressed. Metric knows what they're doing. Throughout the album, they take time-tested rock recipies and rehash them to make songs that are simple but satisfying. "Gimme Sympathy" and "Front Row" are two standouts, they're clean and polished with a real sense of direction to them.

Before you listen to Fantasies for the first time, take a few things into account. First of all, this is pop music. You need to accept this right off the bat and absorb it with that in mind. Secondly, there are moments during the album that feel familiar, lyrics that feel predictable. Take these spots as minor flaws within the larger piece. If you can do all these things, I think you'll agree that Metric has put a lot of effort into this album, and that overall it's really solid. Who knows, I think there may be a lot of people out there that will enjoy this much more than I did. All I know is that it's worth a listen.

-Chris