The Metros

The great thing about punk rock in 2008 is that nobody is really expecting a band to do something original. For a young bunch of Londoners who wear Fred Perry and erm, Sherlock Holmes hats, that’s quite a weight off their shoulders considering all of the focus then is simply on writing good songs. The Metros are all 18, which means they virtually have no life experience to drawn on in their songwriting, but these young scruffs combine their skuzzy London surroundings with a bit of imagination, turning the every day tedium into something vivid and fantastical. Influenced by everything from the Libertines (the same bloke who "discovered” that band did the same for the Metros), the Strokes, oi, Squeeze, and Ian Dury (who's son Baxter acts as producer) & the Blockheads — and it’s clear to see. Quintessentially, this is effortless, post-Libertines, street punk, filled with snotty cadence, overflowing hooks and most importantly, an injection of shit-disturbing, youthful vigour. And while sometimes they fall into that highly-scrutinised bustling punkish-pop sound the Libs romanticised, their debut single for the 1965 label (home to Libs clones the View) is a lip-smacking tune that uses witty one liners, like "Education's overrated, and I'm the monster that it created," melody-charged riffs and some great tempo changes. Accordingly, there’s a corresponding video that paints the band’s winning personality: their penchant for peacoats, looking gangly and awkward in gym class and roaming the halls/yard like they’d never ever think of going to maths.

The Metros "Education Pt. 2”