Alistair - Metro
PREMIERE: ALISTAIR RELEASE IMPRESSIVE ‘METRO’
Phoenix-based alt-rock outfit Alistair introduces the music video for “Metro,” a track from their debut album, Love and Other Human Vices, probing topics of isolation, sexual aggression, toxic associations, and substance abuse.
Alistair | Photo: Jim Louvau
Guitarist Nick Antonucci explains, “As we wrote this record, the message we wanted to get across was you’re not alone—it’s okay not to be okay and embrace what makes you human.” And speaking to the single, the band says, “’Metro’ is a song about insomnia and the unhealthy escapism tactics we use to not be alone in bed with our haunting thoughts.”
Made up of Collin Bashaw (lead vocals), Nick Antonucci (guitar, vocals), Jack Croom (guitar), Jake Randall (bass, vocals), and Jared Denham (drums), the band’s name – Alistair – is Gaelic for “defender of mankind,” and is indicative of the band’s goal of connecting with and uplifting others.
Now in their early twenties, the band got together in high school, playing covers and dabbling in prog-rock. Eventually, the band’s sound, at Nick’s suggestion, swung in the direction of alt-rock and darkwave, permeated by ‘80s and ‘90s savors.
There’s a tantalizing, magnetic feel to “Metro,” a kind of rumor-infused sibilance, both alluring and dreamily evocative, as if Fall Out Boy merged with The Cure.
The sound change occurred at the same time Nick was exiting a poisonous relationship. Collin, who’d been through a similar situation previously, provided emotional support and understanding. The pair purged their emotions through writing new music.
“Metro” opens on low-slung shimmering new wave colors flowing into a punk-charged rhythmic pulse, as opulent, platinum-laced vocals infuse the lyrics with urgent imminence. Pressurized sonic hues merge with radiant vocal harmonies to deliver delicious layers of darkwave art-pop textures.
There’s a tantalizing, magnetic feel to “Metro,” a kind of rumor-infused sibilance, both alluring and dreamily evocative as if Fall Out Boy merged with The Cure. The result is powerfully mesmerizing music.
Alistair most definitely has it going on! “Metro” is one of the better singles so far this year, and thus demands to check out the album.
