METZ released 5 albums on Sub Pop, the last being in 2024. Alex Edkins was the vocalist and guitarist. His solo vehicle is Weird Nightmare and this is the second album, the first was recorded whilst METZ were still a thing. Edkins is still on Sub Pop.
Weird Nightmare is very different to METZ, the latter were noisy and disruptive, wonderfully so and a little Punk. Weird Nightmare are surpisingly and splendidly Guitar Pop. At times a mix of classic Power Pop and the current noisier version of the genre.
But there isn’t just that. Never In Style is pure Replacements, as is Bright City Lights and Pay No Mind is ace 60s UK Beat with a top notch noisy ending. Yet compare those two the Jangling Twanging sugar sweet Power Pop of If You Should Turn Around and you soon realise that you’ve got quite an album on your hands and in your ears.
Little Strange is even more astray from the rest. A Punk vocal matched with a gripping Riff and a driving rhythm. At times very 1978 and yet also in touch with the 90s College Rock Revival. But it is the Guitar Pop that resonates most as it might for our followers.
Might See You There is a Power Pop classic, reminiscent of The Speedways, but with a bigger arrangement. Baby Don’t leans more to the likes of Uni Boys and Forever Elsewhere picks up the pace without losing sight of the genre.
The whole album is a revelation. A great celebration of the chorus with killer riffs and tight arrangements. I’ve select three songs that show the range of the album, but I urge all to listen to the whole of Hoopla to appreciate how great the Power Pop is.
You can listen to and buy the album here. It is available on Vinyl, CD and as a download.
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