Cannibal Cheerleader

Hunting Fantasies

NEW METRIC ALBUM
Perhaps not surprising to the Cannibal Cheerleader faithful, we’re big Emily Haines and Metric fans down here in Austin. So when we nabbed a copy of their newest LP Fantasies we had high expectations – and we were certainly not dissappointed. Never before has the band sounded quite so road-weary or despondent, and their relatively lo-fi sound, with Haines’ vocals buried as deep as they’ve ever been in the mix, reflects this change. Fantasies is the Love & Rockets of dance-punk, an album for the long, rainy walk home from the club, the night filled both with fear and promise, unease and excitement all in one. Musically, the album retains the pop sensibilities the band has built their namesake on, only now it’s tinged with a bloody timidity that finds Metric at their most vulnerable in years. One of the best releases of the year so far, though we may be swayed by the lyric “Help, they’re gonna eat me alive” in the band’s lead single “Help, I’m Alive”. Check out some more tunes below.

Metric – “Collect Call”
Metric – “Twilight Galaxy”
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NEW BAND CHEER: MT. ST. HELENS VIETNAM BAND
Blazing out of the rainy streets of Seattle, the Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band has managed to do what few bands can claim these days by sounding equal parts classic indie-rock and wildly inventive all at once. A merger of the best post-punk tendencies of Pretty Girls Make Graves and the sonorous, naive whisperings of Ra Ra Riot, MSHVB captures a streak of inspired folk-rock that screams of indie-collective. Seriously, these guys are giving Annuals a run for their money, what with their fierce guitar wails and slamming drumwork whirring over their shout-along choruses. Definitely worth checkin’ out, grab some below.

Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band – “Going on a Hunt”
Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band – “Albatross, Albatross, Albatross”

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