The music made by METZ, Alex Edkins (guitar & vocals), Hayden Menzies (drums) & Chris Slorach (bass) has always been challenging to pin down. Their earliest recordings contained nods to the teeming energy of early ‘90s DIY hardcore, the aggravated angularities of This Heat, & the noisy riffing of AmRep’s quintessential guitar manglers. Still, there was never a moment where METZ sounded like they were paying tribute to the heroes of their youth. The sonic trajectory of their albums captures the journey of a band shedding influences & digging deeper into their fundamental core—steady, propulsive drums, chest-thumping bass lines, bloody-fingered guitar riffs, and the howling angst of fading innocence. With Gouge Away. $24 - $27.