Metronomy – Nights Out

After catching the project/trio (delete as you see fit) live for the third time recently in a Chigwell forest at Offset Festival, their reputation as the most exciting act of 2008 was set in stone. Their little-known first album, Pip Paine (Pay Back The £5000 You Owe), recorded just before the masses began to catch onto their fervour, offered a brilliant introduction to the only electro-trio ever known to combine twee with frantic – and now that everyone knows about Metronomy, the opportunity’s staring at Joseph Mount et al like a gold nugget in the eyeball.

This not-really-sophomore album opens startlingly, like a relentless kickboxing assault to the head. Making it impossible to sit still, the vocal-free first few tracks are so cleverly layered and developed it’s simply astonishing. ‘The End Of You Too’ sets your ears up for the way that Metronomy aspire towards a modern-day fugue. It’s like Devo gone electro, and we find ourselves constantly struggling to keep up.

‘On The Motorway’ reminds us of Ratatat’s more pondering output, with some lovely almost contrapuntal synth-work going down underground. And single ‘Heartbreaker’, stark on its own terms, easily fades into the background on Nights Out – because there’s no weak track, neither do all come across as immediate singles. ‘Side 2’ isn’t a floor-filler in the same way as ‘Back On The Motorway, but it easily creates as much stir.

Old favourite (it’s all relative) ‘Radio Ladio’ is forthright in its approach, dizzily spiralling towards a desperado of a chorus – and followed by the concentrically-vocalled ‘My Heart Rate Rapid’, the falsetto packs a solid one-two, baffling and entrancing in equal part with some mega-abstract lyricism. Never hanging around to ponder, it’s the sheer directness of the parts that give this album its immediate appeal. There’s little in the way of obviously similar artists either, something so rare in the current trend for ‘Westlife-by-numbers (with guitars)’ bands. We can only really think of Kitsune and Four Tet, but that’d just be to fill in the blanks.

It’s crazy that a track as unique as ‘Holiday’ can almost slip by unnoticed, but with offerings as phenomenal as ‘A Thing For Me’, any sense of normality is given short sharp thrift instantly. The a cappella opening is magnetic, quickly building into a frenetically wheezy jingle-jangle; the spangly falsetto of the chorus set after the functional deadpan of the verses is immediately puzzling, and a few listens later, a dichotomous delight. The contrasts are looped into an austere whirl until the all-out choruses come into being, making this a real eye-catcher of a track.

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