I don't know why Emily would be upset here. I think Mr. Frere-Jones is on point here. When I first heard Metric (admittedly not until I heard their new one), I immediately thought of female-fronted indie-rock bands of the early '90s like The Breeders, Throwing Muses, Belly, etc. but with more of an edge. Emily's vocals also remind me quite a bit of Jenny Lewis from Rilo Kiley.

I feel the same way about Idlewild, another favorite of mine. Had they existed in the early '90s, there's a chance that they might've been huge here or at least had a chance to sell more records as they probably would've been promoted better.

Regardless, he was just stating that it's how the pop charts and MTV are these days, not that it's their fault or something like that.

has anyone seen a good review of last nights beck show?

Nope, but I did see him last Sunday at the Across the Narrows festival and it was awesome. My full review of that day is here:
http://makeashorterlink.com/?O24E420FB

I was at the beck show last night and will be there again tonight here is ahort review and my photos

http://www.whosdrivingthebus.blogspot.com/

more than anything, i thought SFJ was sort of praising them for being intelligent and not pandering to idiot kids...that's sort of the impression i got.

so - the mainstream has moved away from indie rock... is that news to anyone? Poor Emily won't get her porsche now. Or did she misinterpret the review to be hinting that it's because she's female? I'd say an indie rock band fronted by a hot girl has a bit more of a chance of cracking MTV/Walmart than one with a dime-a-thousand faux-Stroke singer. Like a 1 in 10,000 chance instead of a 1 in 30,000 chance.

are metric interested in being on mtv and that sort of success? who knows. regardless of that they do really well in canada at least. there are 3 sold out shows in my hometown.

tepr:

'So you're saying there IS a chance...'

SFJ isn't wrong, but I don't know why he bothers to say Metric doesn't "stand no chance in popular music’s marketplace."

If they did stand a chance in pop music's marketplace (i.e. the domain of Nickeback) do you really think he'd be writing about the band to begin with?

What I got out of that is this: The days are over when a rock band fronted by a smart, beautiful lead singer get bonus points with either consumers, the media or record execs. There's no novelty left. That's not to say there's a glass ceiling. On the contrary, there's no more handicap given to such a band, and the sky is the limit. Rock music's Title IX is over.

Metric may not become pop stars but they'll excel in the underground, the same place Broken Social Scene and Sleater-Kinney have done very well for themselves. They might break out and become the kind of mid-level success we'll be seeing a lot more of in the coming years.

I generally really like the way SFJ writes, both his style and the bands he chooses to cover.
I really don't like it though when journalists presume to know, for a fact, what's going to hit commercially.
It's really early in Metric's career ( albums wise).
It's just impossible to say.
I mean, who would have predicted that Modest Mouse would have a platinum selling record?
Who would have thought that Avril Lavigne and Britney Spears would still even have careers?
Metric are not really big in Canada. I wish they were. They sell out small to medium size theatres in the three major cities ( Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver)
It's my understanding that the band has been through a lot personally and professionally.
I can certainly see why Emily would be sensitive.
Metric absolutely deserve to be famous.

I gotta be honest too, I don't see any connection between Metric and the Breeders. Kim Deal is great, but in terms of lyrics and content, the bands couldn't be more different. I mean we're talking apples and oranges here.

i think sfj is just showing his age--which is an age i share--but thinking about today's music and today's market in terms of the 90s is silly and irrelevant. i hate it when rock critics issue authoritative statements based on the way things were when they were in their twenties. it's one of the easiest, least graceful things to do as a pop culture writer, and usually sfj is more shrewd than that. comparing metric to the breeders and breedersesque bands is completely wrongheaded.

I find SFJ pompous in that very new Yorker Way...it's fine and dandy and commendable to write seriously about certain things, but to turn on the analystical apparatus for...Metric, this sort of semi-OK, semi-sassy band aping the radical/political sexy chic that The Make Up and the International Noise Conspiracy were doing as early as 1998 is just...kinda pointless!
Emily bugs me for nothing else other than being totally derivative...I mean she's totally ripping Michelle Mae and that hot Swedish chick from INtl Noise Conspiracy. No novely, nothing there for me.

tits on fire thats all i know what can i say they rule bow ya little bitches

Personally, I don't think he has an effing clue what he's talking about in terms of music OR pop culture....Metric and pop culture just don't mix...at least that's not what they're trying to portray. And I truly do not believe in any way that Emily is in the band becasue she's "the hot chick lead singer." She writes all the music, plays the piano, amoung several other instruments, is in a countless number of projects at any time, (Broken Social Scene, Jason Collet, Sparklehorse etc.) Her father was an amazing musician and it's her passion..I'm in no way saying I know her or know what I'm talking about or I'm and expert or anything...but if you see them live, you understand it all. They are without a doubt one of the best live bands I've seen, they exceed the sound of their albums entirely (which are amazing in it's own right). But you can't deny the sound of Emily's voice, in my opinion, it's absolutly perfect...I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything, because everyone's tastes vary depending on their experiences, but my experience of Metric, seeing them live and being a fan, I can't get enough of them and they're innovative as hell.
just speaking my mind, i'll expect a ton of pissed off responses.
p.s. and I really don't think they give a crap about being acccepted into the mainstream

Personally, I don't think he has an effing clue what he's talking about in terms of music OR pop culture....Metric and pop culture just don't mix...at least that's not what they're trying to portray. And I truly do not believe in any way that Emily is in the band becasue she's "the hot chick lead singer." She writes all the music, plays the piano, amoung several other instruments, is in a countless number of projects at any time, (Broken Social Scene, Jason Collet, Sparklehorse etc.) Her father was an amazing musician and it's her passion..I'm in no way saying I know her or know what I'm talking about or I'm and expert or anything...but if you see them live, you understand it all. They are without a doubt one of the best live bands I've seen, they exceed the sound of their albums entirely (which are amazing in it's own right). But you can't deny the sound of Emily's voice, in my opinion, it's absolutly perfect...I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything, because everyone's tastes vary depending on their experiences, but my experience of Metric, seeing them live and being a fan, I can't get enough of them and they're innovative as hell.
just speaking my mind, i'll expect a ton of pissed off responses.
p.s. and I really don't think they give a crap about being acccepted into the mainstream

http://www.batteryfast.com/
http://www.batteryfast.co.uk/