You don't really need to hear this record. I don't really need to review it. If you stare at the cover for five to ten minutes in silence, you'll start to hear the dry rat-a-tat of its drums, its minimal, staccato guitar riffs, its heavy basslines, and its nasal, affected vocals. There are some nice textures here and there that might get your attention; the organ in "Letterbox" is pretty cool and slow jam "Made the Cut" is actually kind of good. The greatest weakness of Metropolitan's previous album, Down For You Is Up, was its vocals, and here they've improved quite a bit. The whole thing sounds better executed, but this produces a sense of lifelessness. Plus, the songwriting is simply worse. It's no secret that Metropolitan is just a rehash group, but they used to be kind of good at it. At least they used to be endearing, and there was a feeling that they were shaping a faint vision of their unique voice. Now it's hard to see why these guys want to make music in the first place. The few discernable lyrics show that they're not really trying to say anything (something about a beat and your feet). The Lines They Get Broken comes off better as a very, very subtle satire of this genre's proliferation.
1. Here or There
2. Homeroom
3. Letterbox
4. Downstream
5. Is It Too Loud?
6. Pakistan International
7. Headway
8. Western Star
9. Made the Cut
More about: Metropolitan
