Metro Station, one of the fastest-growing indie rock bands in America, released their self-titled debut album on Sept. 18, and maybe they should have kept it caged up. The 10-track record is chock-full of syncopated drum beats, tired synth basslines and a weird mixture of tearful lyrics on some tracks, and crazy dance party sing-along hooks on others.
There are, however, flashes of hope for the L.A.-based overnight Internet sensation. The vocals of lead duo Mason Musso and Chase Cyrus (son of Billy Ray Cyrus), prove that they can out-sing Chase's dad. The two actually combine for a sound akin to the likes of Brand New and All-American Rejects. It's just hard to swallow their feeble attempts at sounding like The Postal Service-meets-Fallout Boy.
The Alternative Press said of Metro Station in July, "If the Rentals had a bratty younger brother, they would be named Metro Station." Metro Station would be the younger brother that gets beat up by his older brother because he's always whining about how sad his life is.
To their credit, the album isn't all bad; it's just not for most people. For instance, "Shake It" has an excited-about-life feel with promising guitar riffs and risqué lyrics reminiscent of Brand New's "Sic Transit Gloria," also about sexual angst and insecurity. The undoubtedly coolest part of the album is when frontman Musso yells "Let's Drop!" at the opening of the track. "Tell Me What To Do" also satisfies with the most upbeat feeling the album has to offer, sampling some sort of Nintendo-esque synth bassline and mixing it with enthusiastic vocals. However, what they are enthusiastic about seems to be a 17-year-old girl's cocaine habit. Many of the songs on the album, despite their catchy hooks and out-of-place danceability, leave the listener feeling dirty and wondering about just how young the youth in L.A. begins having sex, drinking and using narcotics.
In a hard-to-comprehend turn of events, the main single off the album, "Seventeen Forever," is nowhere near the best song to listen to. In fact, the single sets you up for a feeling of drowning in a pool of droning electro-rock for over a half an hour, with minimal, yet eagerly welcome breaks in between.
The story is this: it's not the worst album ever and it's not the best. And they're not dead. Metro Station has a legion of fans that will keep them alive as long as they keep singing about being sad and making poor choices. But Metro Station does have one thing going for them: having put this album together in just about a year's time from their conception, they do show serious potential to become something someday - the raw talent is there, just not the content.
For the audience they're aiming for, they hit the nail on the head. "Kelsey," the biggest song on the album so far, according to iTunes, is cute and happy and right up the alley of said audience. However, the rest of the tracks are fillers, that is to say, pretty much garbage. Metro Station simply rushed an album that, with time, could have had some real content. Everyone got really excited because of the "overnight success" of the band and the hurriedness shines through, with few exceptions.
Contact Tom Crosby at
Tom.Crosby@UConn.edu.
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