METZ, the widely-adored and delightfully noisy 3-piece punk band from Toronto, released their Sub Pop self-titled debut in 2012 and, in the time since have cemented their reputation as one of the planet’s most exhilarating live acts and trusted providers of bombastic outsider rock. The band is made up of Alex Edkins, Hayden Menzies and Chris Slorach. Automat is a collection of METZ non-album singles, B-sides, and rarities dating back to 2009, available here on LP for the first time, and including the band’s long out-of-print early (pre-Sub Pop) recordings. A chronological trip through the lesser known material of METZ, Automat will be released worldwide on Sub Pop July 12, 2019.
The band’s Alex Edkins shares, “The idea to release Automat came after realizing our early 7″ singles were being sold online for upwards of $60 bucks a pop. We wanted to make those songs available and affordable to anyone who might want them in the physical format. What started as reissuing a couple of 45s, quickly morphed into an entire LP, compiling rarities, demos and alternative takes from over the years.”
“‘Pure Auto’ is METZ at our most tongue in cheek,” says Edkins. “There are many winks and many nods (autonomy, me, me, me, me, me, for example) but ultimately it’s about being a control freak; fighting the urge to constantly steer the ship. Originally released as the B-side to the ‘Eraser’ 7″ it has never been played live, but for some reason still manages to be one of our collective favourites. It was written and recorded very quickly after completing the II album sessions and came out of a surge of creativity/excitement/relief following a particularly intense and time-consuming album.
Consumers of the vinyl format of Automat will be rewarded with a bonus single that includes three additional tracks: a cover of Sparklehorse’s ‘Pig,’ from a very limited 2012 Record Store Day split single originally released by Toronto’s Sonic Boom record shop; ‘I’m a Bug,’ a cover of The Urinals’ art-punk classic, originally released on YouTube (not an actual record label) in 2014; and METZ’s previously unreleased rendition of Gary Numan’s ‘M.E.’
All tracks on Automat have been lovingly remastered by Matthew Barnhart at Chicago Mastering Service.
METZ are currently hard at work on their 4th full-length LP which will be released on Sub Pop when we are all damn good and ready.
METZ on Spotify: u.subpop.com/2DyWWFK
METZ on Apple Music: u.subpop.com/2L5GSla
METZ on Bandcamp: https://metz.bandcamp.com/
METZ on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/metz
METZ on Twitter: https://twitter.com/METZtheband
METZ on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/metz_theband
METZ on Sub Pop.com: https://www.subpop.com/artists/metz
