Gig review: Metz - Broadcast, Glasgow

IF FANS of a certain era for iconic Seattle record company Sub Pop have been enduring the likes of mystical alt-folkies Fleet Foxes or winsome indieists The Shins through gritted teeth in the hope of a return to the late Eighties days when the label was the epicentre of grunge, they’ll be heartened by the rise of new signings METZ.

Metz

Broadcast, Glasgow

* * * *

A sonically uncompromising Toronto post-hardcore trio, their musical DNA can be traced back substantially to that document of proto-grunge at arguably its most nihilistic and best: Nirvana’s 1989 album Bleach. Perhaps with a little of Big Black’s raw attack and Sonic Youth’s atonal guitar noise thrown in for good measure.

To say earplugs were advised at this gig would be a considerable understatement. You could practically feel the freight train rumble generated by blur-of-hair-and-tattoos Hayden Menzies’s savage drumming and Chris Slorach’s sludgy bass.

It wasn’t always easy to distinguish the short, furious and frenzied likes of Get Off from, say, the short, furious and frenzied likes of Sad P***ks or Rats. But then this was one of those speedy and to-the-point gigs that didn’t get bogged down in detail.

Against all this freakish clamour, it was fun to observe guitarist and singer Alex Edkins. He was polite to a fault. “This is amazing,” he gushed of METZ’s raucous Glasgow reception, before dedicating a song to Slorach’s cousin in attendance Stevie. “And the transvestite,” he added.