Releasing Old World Underground, Where Are You? in 2003, Metric began moving out of the shadows of their quiet-loud revolution, not necessarily because they wanted to, but because their revolution was working. The powerful word-of-mouth praises were spreading and as Metric toured incessantly, it became apparent that people were finding their way out of the coma of commercialism and finding new life in their music. According to Metric’s vocalist Emily Haines, this started to concern the band; rolling their eyes at the possibility of squealing sorority girls and obnoxious frat boys flocking to their shows, reducing their hard work to just another drunk-fest. However, Metric’s effort to revolutionize a dead genre has also had its effect on the band, and in the process of touring for Old World Underground, the band had become acutely aware of how they, themselves, had unwittingly fallen prey to the categorizing, labeling, and thoughtless prejudices inherent in a sleepy world. The over-protection for their art then took a turn toward an evolved, mature trust in their audience, and most importantly, a new trust in themselves as they rocket toward a precarious position in our world: POPULAR.

According to Emily: “….but more and more I just feel like those judgments about types of people and their musical tastes are ringing untrue to me. People don't like music according to a type.” This process of maturing within the band seems to have been a strong inspiration for their latest release, Live It Out.

In keeping with the tight, rough, melodic, political, and catchy familiarity we have come to know as Metric, Live It Out does not disappoint. Although Metric is often described as 80’s New Wave Meets 90’s Rock, Emily has shouted on more than one occasion that they “are a Rock and Roll band…with a keyboard!”

Live It Out opens with “Empty Head,” where Metric seems to be exploring their own admission to having been wrong about the intelligence of their audience and the growing popularity, singing, “There was no way out, the only way out was to give in. How I love to give in.” Luring the listener in through a gentle lullaby entrance, Metric then smashes through the song with a shocking turn toward head-banging, hair-flailing rock, chanting, “Shake your head; it’s empty. Shake your hips, move your feet,” revealing an almost-autobiographical surrender to the more important joy of just enjoying the damn music and letting go of the politics and divisions. “Glass Ceiling” prances us through with a jointed, jerky, guitar-driven beat that might leave a few of the linear-minds feeling confused as to where the song is going, but with the lyrics, “every speed on your knees is crawling,” it becomes clear that Metric’s music is as much about art as it is about rock, capturing in sound the struggle against any glass ceiling of pressure and limitation. “Handshakes” flings us into a speed-beat of compromises and traps, with Emily wailing, alarm-like as part of the chorus and leaving us with one of our most imprisoning, cultural mantras, “Buy this car to drive to work; drive to work to pay for this car.” “Monster Hospital” is Metric’s first release from the album, nodding their heads equally toward the 80’s The Clash in delivery and toward the 50’s Bobby Fuller in lyrics (“I fought the Law (but the law won”) creating a genius fusion of past and present and politics; one listen to this song and you are guaranteed at least three hours of echo from its addictive chorus, “I fought the war but the war won't stop for the love of god. I fought the war but the war won.” “The Police and the Private” is reminiscent of Old World Underground’s “Calculation Theme,” poetically building a story-lesson over playful synths and rising rhythm toward a soft crescendo. “Ending Start” seals Metric’s fate of being compared to the widest spectrum of rock, lending a Pink Floyd-esque-Dark-Side-of-the-Moon haunt to this collection.

The title track, “Live It Out” ends the album on the most unapologetically indie rock meets new wave slam dance note, confirming that Metric has lost the self-consciousness attitude of exclusivity, embracing and owning their variations of style, AND the variation of audiences who love them.

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