Release Date: 06.26.07
OK, so Grow Up And Blow Away isn’t a new album, but $5 says that most of you had never even heard of the band Metric when it was a new record. I’ll be honest, I didn’t know about them until 2003’s Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? came out. As a fan I was pretty psyched to find out that the band was releasing Grow Up And Blow Away, as it was previously only available on the road and somewhere online back in the day.
More often than not when I hear a band’s unreleased debut later in life, I am left less than impressed. Case in point with my favorite band, Pulp. While I have a deep infatuation with them, and always will, I can’t tell you the last time I listened to It. (I want to say it was after I took off the shrink-wrap and gave it that first spin. Since then it has sat on the shelf). That, with the combination of this incarnation of Metric being a duo (Emily Haines and James Shaw) was about all I knew. So needless to say I walked into Metric’s debut with little to no expectations. Sometimes it’s better that way, it makes it like a nice present on Christmas morning; and what a gift this LP was for my ears.
The LP starts with “Grow Up And Blow Away,” the perfect album opener, showcasing Emily’s vocal range and storytelling skills draped over an up-tempo guitar and electronic beat. “Hardwire” continues the electronic experimentation and rolls into the jazzy “Rock Me Now,” a down tempo track that acts as the precursor to Emily’s playfulness with music and lyrics. At one point in the middle of the song she stops singing to clear her throat and beckons someone to sing with her. The pop perfection song “Soft Rock Star” finds Emily trying her hand at soaring high vocals, and she nails it. There is also another mix of this tune at the end of the record making the long player come full circle.
Most of us know Metric for their insanely great upbeat songs, but there are some slower ones on this album as well. “White Gold,” “London Halflife” and the acoustic meets electronic “Raw Sugar.” Oh and how can I not mention the pretty laid-back lounge jam “On The Sky?”
Grow Up And Blow Away is so much more than a filler to complete your Metric collection. It is a standout release in its own right, and it’s about damn time this got a proper street date. Now we are left waiting and hungry for their new LP, which should come out this fall.
