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Metroplex: Everything is Chrome in the Future
I admit it. The shiny, silver (or perhaps chrome?) album cover of this CD is what drew me in. Oh, how pretty, I thought to myself. I think Ill keep this one and review it myself. This was even after I had already listened to the CD once and passed off Metroplex as just another emo band. So here I am struggling to write something unique about a band that, for all intents and purposes, sounds just like every other emo rock band that is permeating alternative commercial radio at the moment. I guess I got what I deserved for judging a CD by its cover. What we have here is generic chordation (to continue the use of a word that one of LOTDs writers invented), whiny, nasal, and often screamy vocals, and songs with vague story-lines almost entirely written about girls. There is little variation in the core sound of tracks one through four both the vocals and the keys of these songs do not stray far from the same easy and comfortable range. The only thing that makes the songs at all interesting is the use of changing tempos, but even this is done in the same pattern in almost every song fast, slow, and then fast again. Then along comes track five, which is entitled Acoustic. Hmm, I thought, maybe something to change the pace a bit. Sure enough, Acoustic starts off with the albums first appearance of acoustic guitar, soft and sweet in comparison to the previous tracks. Then, one minute into the song, its back to the same old stuff: whiny vocals set to generic power chords and fast-slow-fast tempo changes. Track seven, When Tomorrow Comes, has the potential to be a decent song if Metroplex were to employ a different lead singer. By this point in the listening experience, his vocals were about to drive me to bang my head against the wall. And then all of a sudden the appearance of an instrumental track that is so cleverly entitled What to Say. Note to emo bands: attempt instrumental songs with much caution. On second thought, with the lead singer of this band, maybe throwing an instrumental in the mix to give the listeners a break wasnt such a bad idea. If you like track one on Everything is Chrome, chances are you will like the rest of the album because after several listens, the ten songs remain indistinguishable in my head. But maybe Ive been too hard on Metroplex. After all, their drummer seems pretty talented, and besides the grating voice of the lead singer, theres nothing blatantly wrong with the songs. Its just that the basic elements of this type of music grow tiresome easily, usually leaving the listener wanting something more.
This album can be purchased at Limekiln Records LEFT OFF THE DIAL's Metroplex page About LOTD Contact/Staff Advertise Home All content © LEFT OFF THE DIAL 2001-2005. All rights reserved. |
