Normally I would have tossed the insane new Metz video above into the Indie Roundup, but since it coincided with the announcement of their new album Atlas Vending — due Oct. 9 — I figured I’d give it a little more play. Also, normally I’d share some personal anecdote from all the times I’ve seen or interviewed the band, but I can only recall catching them once about 10 years ago — when they were suitably awesome, to be sure — and far as I know, I’ve never talked to them. So I’ll let their press release do the heavy lifting:
“Change is inevitable if you’re lucky,” says guitarist/vocalist Alex Edkins while talking about Atlas Vending, the fourth full-length album by Toronto’s Metz. “Our goal is to remain in flux, to grow in a natural and gradual way. We’ve always been wary to not overthink or intellectualize the music we love but also not satisfied until we’ve accomplished something that pushes us forward.” The music made by Edkins and his compatriots Hayden Menzies (drums) and Chris Slorach (bass) has always been a little difficult to pin down. Their earliest recordings contained nods to the teeming energy of early ‘90s DIY hardcore, the aggravated angularities of This Heat, and the noisy riffing of AmRep’s quintessential guitar manglers, but there was never a moment where Metz sounded like they were paying tribute to the heroes of their youth. If anything, the sonic trajectory of their albums captured the journey of a band shedding influences and digging deeper into their fundamental core — steady propulsive drums, chest-thumping bass lines, bloody-fingered guitar riffs, the howling angst of our fading innocence. With Atlas Vending, Metz not only continues to push their music into new territories of dynamics, crooked melodies, and sweat-drenched rhythms, they explore the theme of growing up and maturing within a format typically suspended in youth.”
Not so much into that? Fear not — there’s plenty more new albums where that came from. Scroll down to see all the latest additions — including new discs from Matt Pond PA and Sylvan Esso, along with that new Carrie Underwood Christmas album I know you’ve all been waiting for — and then put on your bear suit and hit the Upcoming Releases page to scan the entire crazy list.
July 31
Richard J. Birkin / Grip Tight | I Like Your Taste In Remixes
EMMA | Indigo Dream
Maaya | AW #002 EP
Anneke Van Giersbergen | Let The Light In
August 7
Asllan | Liberty & Death
Blue Öyster Cult | 45Th Anniversary Live In London
Becky Bowe | Cosmic Heart EP
Vincent Cross | The Life & Times of James ‘The Rooster’ Corcoran
Depart | Rebirth EP
Matt Pond PA | Songs Of Disquiet EP
August 14
Grimgotts | Sagas
Mameen 3 | Incunabula EP
August 21
Jamie F | Instrument of Evil EP
Mark Lanegan Band | Another Knock At The Door (IYEARA Remixes)
L.A. Witch | Play With Fire
Tom McKay | Hung By the Wings of Fate
Lila Tirando a Violeta | Limerencia
August 28
Exist | Egoiista
Jyoti | Mama, You Can Bet!
Bethany Thomas | BT/She/Her
September 4
The Glorious Dead | Into Lifeless Shrines
Krononaut | Krononaut
Phew | Vertigo KO
TEST and Roy Campbell | TEST and Roy Campbell
September 11
Aborted Fetus | Pyramids of Damnation
European Sun | European Sun
September 18
Jenny Banai | Couchwalker
Kingdom | Neurofire
Drew McDowall | Agalma
A. Swayze & The Ghosts | Paid Salvation
September 25
Jamie Lenman | King of Clubs
Lydia Loveless | Daughter
Brendon Randall-Myers | Dynamics of Vanishing Bodies
Richard Skelton | These Charms May Be Sung Over A Wound
Sylvan Esso | Free Love
Carrie Underwood | My Gift
October 2
The Pilgrim | …From The Earth To The Sky And Back
October 9
Crippled Black Phoenix | Ellengæst
Metz | Atlas Vending
Necrophobic | Dawn of The Damned
October 16
Leah Belle Faser | Crossing Hermi’s Bridge
Steep Canyon Rangers | Arm in Arm
October 23
The Nix | Sausage Studio Sessions
November 13
Katy J Pearson | Return
November 20
Scott Garred | Scott Songs Vol. II
