METZ

Canadian noise punk trio METZ take equal inspiration from the battered rock trappings of '90s grunge and the noisier side of shoegaze's textural guitars, playing taut, angular melodies with turn-on-a-dime precision and muscular impact. The band's raw, combative sound was well documented on their self-titled debut album in 2012, but subsequent efforts such as 2017's Strange Peace and 2020's Atlas Vending found them refining their noisy rapport while hitting just as hard as before. With 2024's Up on Gravity Hill, METZ's music was more tuneful and dynamic than ever before, though the themes and the strength of the performances revealed it as a typically uncompromised effort.