Tag: Steve Albini

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

If you’ve been frequenting this site over the past few years, you’ve come across a number of posts featuring the Toronto, ON-based trio Metz, comprised of Alex Edkins (guitar, vocals), Hayden Menzies (drums) and Chris Slorach (bass), and as you may recall with the 2014 release of their self-titled debut and 2015’s sophomore effort II, the Toronto-based punk rock trio have received attention across their native Canada and internationally for a sludgy, face-melting, power chord-based sound reminiscent of Bleach and In Utereo-era Nirvana, A Place to Bury Strangers, Japandroids and others.

The band’s third full-length effort Strange Peace is slated for a September 22, 2017 through Sub Pop Records and the album, which the trio recored at Chicago‘s Electrical Audio Studio with Steve Albini live to tape, with additional home recordings and instrumentation recorded with their longtime collaborator, engineer and mixer Graham Walsh in Toronto, reportedly finds the band pushing their sound and songwriting into a completely different territory — while capturing the intense energy of their live set. As the band’s Alex Eadkins explains in press notes “The songs on Strange Peace are about uncertainty. They’re about recognizing that we’re not always in control of our own fate, and about admitting our mistakes an fears. They’re about finding some semblance of peace within the chaos.”

Interestingly, as you’ll hear on “Cellophane,” Strange Peace‘s first single, the band retains its sledgehammer-like forcefulness, sludgy power chords and rousing hooks but there’s a hard-fought maturity — the sort that comes from living in an increasingly fearful, uncertain, fucked up world that feels as though it’s spinning faster and faster towards disaster. And in some way, the band and the song seem to say “hey man, we’re scared out of our fucking minds and we have no idea what to do, but we have each other and somehow, someway we’ll figure it out.” Perhaps, if we were to consider the strangeness of our own world and our own politics, we should take comfort in each other and hold on as tight as possible.

 

 

 

 

Single Review by William Ruben Helms

Frequently compared to RIDE, Smashing Pumpkins, Dinosaur, Jr. and Deerhunter, the critically praised Chicago, IL-based quartet Pink Frost originally formed under the name Apteka — and as Apteka, the quartet recorded their debut effort Gargoyle Days on analog tape before releasing the album back in 2011 to critical praise; the album landed on Time Out Chicago‘s Best of 2011 List, as well as several others. After changing their name to Pink Frost, the quartet’s 2014 sophomore effort, Sundowning was released to critical praise from nationally renowned media outlets including Pitchfork, SPIN Magazine, Noisey, Magnet Magazine, and Chicago Reader. And adding to a growing national profile, material from Sundowning appeared in The Lookalike and TV series such as The Vampire Diaries and CSI: Miami, among others.

The Chicago-based quartet will be releasing a painstakingly remixed and remastered update of the original analog masters, which reportedly will not only pack much more punch, but will also be representative of the band’s live sound. Of course, with new artwork reflecting the band’s change of name, the band intends for the re-release of their debut to be a metaphorical and literal rebirth. (Interestingly, the members of Pink Frost have been incredibly busy of late as they’ve also been busily recording the follow-up to Sundowning and Traitors EP with Gregoire Yeche at Steve Albini’s Electrical Audio Studios.)

The re-released album’s second and latest single “Where Days Go” is an power-chord based song with enormous, anthemic hooks that sounds as though it were inspired by 90s alt rock and shoegaze. I’m reminded quite a bit of The Posies‘ “Ontario,” Foo Fighters “This Is A Call” and The Black Angels‘ “Telephone” as “Where Days Go” possesses a similar forcefulness and mosh-pit ready feel while being incredibly radio friendly.