5pm_weds | forty-seven

Hustle Rose
Metric
Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?
2003

I told you earlier today that I haven't GASPED about any new music lately. I was working on my Dad's mix CD, which tends to be a favourites of the year type-thing, and I was having a really hard time. Maybe it's because I listened to so much Robyn this year (ha). Or maybe it's because I don't give one album or artist the attention and focus it deserves (like the focus given to say, Robyn). The way I listen to music has become a little ADD and, like, that's not cool. This means hitting "next" after listening to two seconds of a song, without ever really sticking to anything. I like listening to music when I'm cooking or washing the dishes because I'm less likely to hit that skip. In 2012, I would like to be more patient.

So, for today's post, I went back to the archives. I was looking over some of my old Dad mixes, and like, dude, I'm pretty embarrassed about a lot of the songs I included over the years...the mixes are fine, but it's like they aren't entirely genuine. I don't know if this year's is any better, but I tried to stick to true favourites...to songs that marked this year in some way. "Hustle Rose" isn't on my 2011 Dad mix, BUT it IS on my December 16th, 2006 mix (Cue the Smoke Machines). I pulled it out of my mix CD diaries to listen to specific track, but kept coming back to "Hustle Rose".

"Hustle Rose" wasn't a favourite Metric song (it was one I consistently skipped) until I saw Emily Haines perform it live at The Metropolis (I have that performance on DVD, actually!). Hearing this song again...I actually experienced a reaction. Not because it makes me think of a particular moment in my life, but because it is a freaking good song. I love that it sounds kind of different...that it takes you in all of these different directions...it's both quiet and loud...the lyrics are repetitive, but then you get hit with a makes-you-hold-your-breath line ("If I get to close, you wake me up/remind me softly to go"). I love when the music builds up at 3:30 and just kind of explodes (cue head-banging) and then levels out and gets quiet and slow again. The lyrics aren't intensely descriptive, but they're enough:

"If you’re looking for something life-like
Hit a sardine nightclub
If every surface you touch is cold
Never go home"

How you could say so much in four short lines...it sort of blows me away every time.