Stream the METZ LP, get Alex Edkins's take on the album

Toronto’s best band METZ releases its self-titled Sub Pop debut LP on Oct. 9, and you can stream it right here until Oct. 16.

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Streaming until Oct 16.
Tracklist

So, what can listeners who’ve never heard METZ before expect from this record?

“Hopefully they’ll get a bit of a jolt,” guitarist/vocalist Alex Edkins says. “It’s a fast and very to-the-point record that’ll grab a hold of you, take you for a ride for just under half an hour and then leave you alone. It’s a quick in and then a quick out.”

Though METZ has earned a reputation for a devastatingly powerful live show, full of Edkins' manic screaming and serpentine noise guitar, Chris Slorach's caustic bass and drummer Hayden Menzies' Dave Grohl/Todd Trainer-sized rhythms, Edkins says that METZ is unlike anything they’ve released to date.

“We really tried to focus on the songwriting more than just the sonic experimentation,” he explains. “We wanted there to be some hooks in there, too.”

Even with song structures on their mind, the band has far from softened their approach. Their first LP can be dizzying and harrowing, with songs like “Headache,” “Nausea” and “Wasted” creating a dark, sonic landscape.

“I relate it to where I was living; I almost think it’s a Toronto record,” Edkins says of his songwriting and the LP’s underlying theme. “The picture on the cover somewhat illustrates where the lyrics are coming from — feeling the pressure of living in this high-speed, crazy world. It’s really not a philosophical record though; it’s more about the micro things in life that can start to weigh heavily on you.”

Edkins is quick to point out that, collectively, the band is in a good mental space these days. They’re preparing for treks to New York City for CMJ and tours of North America and Europe that represent the longest road trips METZ has ever undertaken. And as parts of the world encounter the band for the first time, Edkins is prepared to have the band's gnarly, underground rock misunderstood and pigeonholed by people who should know better (comparisons to 90s bands like Nirvana, the Jesus Lizard, Drive Like Jehu and Dischord Records's post-punk outfits are already popping up).

“I think of our music as very modern,” Edkins says. “I think of it as ‘right now’ music. It’s a combination of so many things and the '90s and early 2000s was just when we were getting outta our teens and that stuff really stayed with us. I certainly think we’re doing something different than those bands, even though there are sounds or rhythms that people keep referring back to."

“It doesn’t exactly bother me but at the same time I think it’s sorta cheap,” he adds. “It’s kinda pointless, lazy and it doesn’t really help anybody — the listener or the bands.”

The METZ LP is available now, via Sub Pop Records. See them on tour beginning this week.