“METZ” | Leaves the listener exhausted

Richard DiCicco
Staff Writer

If you were waiting for ‘90s rock to come roaring back, you’re in the right decade.

This year has seen no shortage of punk rock revivalists, from Cloud Nothings’ harrowing January release “Attack on Memory” to Japandroids’ bleacher-stomping sophomore effort “Celebration Rock,” released to overwhelming acclaim this past Spring.

Perhaps most famously, the English outfit Yuck initially withstood a fair amount of flak for attempting to revisit the fuzzy guitar pop of Dinosaur Jr. and My Bloody Valentine with their sleeper-hit debut album last year.

Toronto-based newcomer Metz is the latest group to get lumped in with these guys, and they are easily the loudest. Their self-titled debut could wake the dead (appropriately so, the opening track is entitled “Headache”). The moment the needle drops, there is no escaping their barrage of noise.

I should have seen this coming with the last decade’s predisposition to retro 1980s synth-pop and the whole wearing-suits-on-stage thing. Give any sound twenty years, and it will always boomerang back. But just like the slight but monumental differences between ‘80s post-punk and ‘00s post-punk revival, these modern punk outfits bring something totally different to the scene.

Traditional guitar-based punk rock has pretty much flown under the radar for the past several years, save for the mainstream success of The Black Keys, and these new sensations take the unbridled rage of grunge and post-hardcore punk and dress it up in the slick and quirky glaze of modern indie rock.

Sure, Yuck is fuzzier than a peach, and Metz would never be caught on the same stage as She & Him, but underneath all their ripped jeans and flannel is tight production and formidable songwriting prowess.

For Metz, guitar feedback is just as potent as a catchy pop hook. This record is noise wall-to-wall. Each drum strike is an individual explosion and their screeching guitar work is comparable only to the wail of falling bombs.

This level of controlled sonic brutality is straight out of Nirvana’s “In Utero,” and while this will certainly get your blood pumping (especially during the album’s restless first half), Metz will leave you fatigued.

Despite its frugal 29 minute running time, the Canadian outfit, while clearly talented and enthusiastic, offers little rest from the onslaught of sound they bang out.

This seems to be the Achilles’ heel of this loosely defined “scene,” and fellow Canadians Japandroids suffered from the same lack of dynamism on their recent LP. Like many of their contemporary revivalists, Metz is thrilling in doses but a workout in large chunks.