Metro Station - Metro Station [album]

Columbia

February 25, 2009, 10:03 PM

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In theory, I should hate Metro Station:

1. They are technically described as ‘American pop rock’;
2. They actually have a member with the surname Cyrus;
3. Their combined age falls waayy too low on my scale of ageist respectability;
4. I already want to punch both lead singers in his face and tell them to buy bigger (and therefore looser) pants…
5. They give this explanation about the band name… “And then we made, like, the MySpace, had the name, and then, we made the MySpace, kept the name, and then, we had the MySpace for awhile actually, I had it made, we kept getting together, and then we made our first song.” Genius.

BUT, in the spirit of musical justice (as I find is severely lacking these days), I gave their debut self-titled album a proper listen and not only did I not hate it, but I actually kind of liked it. Kind of. Now this may seem a little ass about-face that I am reviewing an album that was originally released in the US in 2007, but we here in Britain are still waiting for the UK release, which isn’t due here until March.

Surprisingly, Metro Station’s sound is more electronic than pop so it’s not as tacky as I was expecting; and the lyrics aren’t as annoying or sickly either. The first four tracks (‘Seventeen Forever’, ‘Control’, ‘Kelsey’ and ‘Shake It’) have been released in the US as singles, and therefore they have that ‘single’ vibe to them, trying to sum up the sound of the band in themselves, while actually sounding like they’re over produced and are on the whole nothing momentous. These tracks now have accompanying videos with them, which are as typical as ever, but nonetheless fairly viable.

Next up is one song I never want to listen to again, ‘Wish We Were Older’; it is so crap! There is nothing else to do but to warn everyone who picks this album up to skip track 5. I know what you’re thinking…

Well, from track 6 onwards the album turns decidedly upwards and actually makes up for the poorer first half. ‘Now That We’re Done’ and ‘True to Me’ are less corny and more considered, with a lot more all-round effort from all members. These tracks help Metro Station come across a more serious band.

My favourite song on the album is “Tell Me What To Do”, a retro track sounding surprisingly innovative, which makes up for the upsetting shite of ‘Wish We Were Older’. This is followed by the mellower ‘California’ and ‘Disco’. The UK version of the album, set to be released on 9 March 2009, will have the bonus track ‘The Love That Left You To Die’ tacked on the end, which originally featured on the 2006 Metro Station EP ‘The Questions We Ask at Night'.

For what it is, Metro Station is not bad - I didn’t want to shoot my myself like I do with most ‘American pop punk’, but it’s also still very far from great. In the great scheme of things, I doubt Metro Station will go down in history as defining, changing, or inspiring a generation.

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