Metro Station

Performer: Metro Station
Engineer: Scott Riebling; Sean Gould
Distributor: Sony Music Distribution (

Notes: Metro Station: Trace Cyrus, Mason Musso (vocals, guitar); Anthony Improgo (drums); Blake Healy (programming). Issued in early 2008, Metro Station's self-titled debut is the sound of emo-rock going pop. Given the HANNAH MONTANA connections of singer/guitarists Mason Musso and Trace Cyrus--who are older brothers of that Disney TV show's Mitchel Musso and Miley Cyrus, respectively--it's no surprise that the Hollywood-based band is highly accessible (see the energetic "Seventeen Forever"), though it may be a bit of a shock to hear Billy Ray Cyrus's son performing introspective synth-driven tunes such as the brooding "Control" (think the Faint-lite) and New Wave-inspired "Wish We Were Older." Take away Metro Station's affiliation with Disney's Hannah Montana franchise, and what remains is strikingly similar to fellow emo-pop outfit Panic! at the Disco: a group of teenaged boys with an affinity for teenaged girls, MySpace, and techno beats. Both bands owe their initial success to a computer-obsessed age where groups are signed on the strength of their MySpace plays, regardless of their history as a live act (which, indeed, is how both of these acts were awarded contracts). It's a genre that relies as much on style -- the members' haircuts, the cut of their jeans, the swoons they'll induce -- as substance, and Metro Station is certainly all about style on this glossy debut. To the band's credit, there are some fine cuts here, particularly the tracks where keyboardist/programmer Blake Healy runs amok. He is the band's secret weapon, supporting his two frontmen with enough bubbling synth to keep everyone float. However, it's below the surface that the quartet runs into trouble, as not much exists beneath the polished sheen of teenaged lyrics and electronica-lite. Take the club-worthy "Shake It," whose stirring chorus is a genuine call to the dancefloor for even the most dedicated of wallflowers. But the verses are little more than high-school fluff, delving so far into the hormonal desires of their jailbait songwriters ("Your lips tremble but your eyes are in a straight stare; we're on the bed but your clothes are laying right there") that the memorable song -- once a guilty pleasure -- now simply makes the listener feel guilty. This doesn't always have to be the case; a teenaged Eve 6 once asked their listeners to "tie [them] to the bedpost" in "Inside Out," and the song nevertheless topped the charts. Eve 6 sounded old, though, while Metro Station bask in their illegality with songs like "Seventeen Forever" and the telling "Wish We Were Older." Scattered moments of pure pop craftsmanship remain, but Metro Station is largely a destination for the same impressionable audience that made Hannah Montana a hit. ~ Andrew Leahey

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