Original image by There Stands the Glass.
As an impressionable teen during the punk revolution, I bought into rigid credos I now know are hogwash. The Canadian band Metz breaks a few of the bogus rules on the opening track of its new album Atlas Vending. "Pulse" overlays what could be the catchiest riff from Led Zeppelin’s sinuous “Dancing Days” over bleak Gang of Four-style scaffolding. True punks know that’s against the rules! Metz’s willful disregard of the dilapidated form’s restrictive codes is invigorating. Unrelenting rage and artistic abandon makes Metz one of the relatively few purveyors of guitar-based rock that doesn’t sound ridiculous in 2020.
---
I continue to aggravate Kansas City jazz pollyannas at Plastic Sax.
---
Opera update: Although necessity dictated I slightly expand my parameters, the streak is still alive. I recommend the remarkable treatment Staatsoper Hannover gives to Handel's gorgeous “oratorio Il trionfo del tempo e del disinganno.” The drab production of Beethoven’s “Fidelio” I began watching during lunch today will be #207 in 207 days.