Why, God, WHY Do I Like Metro Station??

In the interest of being in touch with some of what's been making waves in the pop/rock world whilst I was lost in other realms, I downloaded a metric ton of albums off Ruckus. You'll get quickie reviews of a lot of those later this week (I'll do 'em all at once since I'd be gypping you guys with a bunch of entries that have no MP3s to boot), but one of these albums I felt needed it's own review for any number of reasons.

I've heard the name "Metro Station" tossed out a number of times over the past few weeks, but knew little to nothing of their music. While on my Ruckus rampage, I downloaded it on a whim before learning anything about who they were. Looking back, by all accounts I should hate, loathe, and despise Metro Station for any number of reasons, among them:

-They owe their existence to Hannah Montana (I don't care how gloriously catchy her music is...just NO).
-Their nearest musical neighbors are Hellogoodbye (bleck) and exclamation-point-era Panic! At the Disco.
-Their first tour experience was the "Really Really Ridiculously Good Looking Tour" with Cobra Starship. Seriously? Why don't you just change your names to "Nondescript Talentless MySpace Band"?

In theory, those marks should have been strikes 1-13 against them, and the album would have gotten at best a formality of a listen. The thing is...I kind of loved it.

On the surface Metro Station’s eponymous debut is a teeny-bopper album for vaguely rebellious high school freshmen. The shameless use of synths and drum machines reek of Hellogoodbye's immaturity, but lyrically Metro Station scores points in that, unlike many of their apparent influences, they make sense. Beneath that Disney Channel surface, there's a real urgency in the music; Metro Station sound like teenagers trying to convince their parents to let them take the car out by themselves for the first time (I mean that in the best possible way). The subject matter seems pretty firmly rooted in boys and girls and the relationships thereof, but there's a maturity in it that lends itself well to wildly inappropriate statutory jokes. Leadoff track "Seventeen Forever" sets the carpe diem tone well, and follow-up "Control" straddles the line between "adult" themes of alcohol and cigarettes and that ongoing teen romance.

(Tangent: "Control"'s bridge goes "I'm coming down/Bring me up/Take it off/Let's just touch". Everytime that last line was said, I was holding my breath for the time the word "touch" was something different. Judging by Trace Cyrus's delivery, its pretty easy to hear he wanted it.)

Lead single "Shake It" is par for the course for Metro Station; a song that you feel like you should hate, but find yourself loving for its youthful musings on sex and romance. The downside to Metro Station is that it is very much on one note emotionally. By the three-quarter mark on the album, you kinda get the point; "We're still young, but not for much longer, let's make out and maybe do a bit more". The short track lengths--only one track breaks the 3:30 marker-- keep things simple for the attention-deprived among us and also make things all sorts of club-ready, but leave you wanting a bit more by the time the last track ends.

Overall, this is still a solid first outing for a band that doesn't need much talent to sell records. There's plenty of room for growth here, and I'd love to hear Metro Station's first LP as legal adults, but Metro Station is a thoroughly enjoyable listen for just about anyone, except maybe the paranoid mothers of 16-year old highschoolers.

Ruling on the Field: 7.5/10

Highlight Reel: Shake It

(Only track I could MP3, but I still fantastic)

==TJ==