Rock music raised Lia Metcalfe, vocalist and guitarist for The Mysterines. As a kid, she grew up in Liverpool around her tour-bound father, who fronted the late-aughts alternative rock band Sound of Guns.
“It was pretty chaotic, to say the least. My dad is a strange man, but I love him,” Metcalfe says from the band’s bus on the road. “We were all pretty lucky to have parents who played us music constantly growing up. Being from where we are in the U.K., it’s such a big part of our culture and all our parents grew up in the ’90s, so they were heavily influenced by the music at that time.”
After Sound of Guns folded in 2013, Metcalfe emerged with her own band of misfits: grungy Liverpool four-piece The Mysterines. They’ll open for Awolnation on November 12 at Brooklyn Bowl. “I never consciously went into music to be like my dad, because I really don’t want to be anything like my dad,” she admits, “but I think it subconsciously influenced me definitely.”
The darkly charming Metcalfe leads The Mysterines—whose lineup also includes guitarist Callum Thompson, bassist George Favager and drummer Paul Crilly—with a confidence well beyond her 22 years. On the band’s 2019 EP Take Control, she channels the kind of moody rock ’n’ roll you might hear in a dirty dive bar … right before a beer bottle hits the wall. It’s provocative yet freeing, with Metcalfe’s gruff register exhaling a tapestry of raw emotion. The four-piece fine-tunes that sound on March debut LP Reeling, recorded live in the studio with producer Catherine Marks (Foals, Wolf Alice, The Killers).
“I thought all records were recorded live until I realized how much of a big deal it was that we did it,” Metcalfe says. “I’ll probably continue to do records that way.”
During the sessions, Metcalfe says, the musicians listened to a range of artists—Tom Waits and PJ Harvey to The Velvet Underground and The Brian Jonestown Massacre—who inspired their recording choices.
“We didn’t want to overproduce the first record too much, because it doesn’t really give you anywhere to go, especially as a band. If we went straight into doing the record like you do a fifth record or fourth record, it would only get worse from there,” she says. “We wanted to make the first record a bit sh*t, so that we can be better on the next one.”
And then, laughing, Metcalfe adds, “That’s kind of what I do in dating as well.”
That dark optimism can also be heard on Reeling’s opening track, “Life’s a Bitch (But I Like It So Much),” a kick-in-the-teeth anti-anthem celebrating … life? “The song is kind of accepting that most things are sh*t now and everyone’s pretty moody,” Metcalfe says. “Things are pretty f*cked up, but you’re better off being alive than not.”
The rest of Reeling finds Metcalfe reveling in the acrimony of toxic relationships, self-destruction and bruising love affairs. She’s a swaggering force among the clash of crunchy guitar shreds and grunge-laden riffs. And so far, she says, it has translated well onstage.
“‘The Confession Song’ has been quite surprising,” Metcalfe says of the haunting, and creepily biblical, album closer. “We’ve been doing that live at some shows, and people seem to be really frightened and enjoy it at the same time. I think that’s a good sign.”
The Mysterines are set to tour with Arctic Monkeys next year, and new songs are in the works for the next album. Metcalfe teases that it will depart from Reeling, showing more jazz and even some Beastie Boys influences.
As for the group’s first trip to Vegas, Metcalfe already has plans. “They’ve got that 24-hour drive window thing where you can get married. I’m looking at anyone who wants to marry me in Vegas. Come to this show, and let me know.”
The Mysterines Opening for Awolnation, with Badflower. November 12, 6:30 p.m., $33-$45. Brooklyn Bowl, ticketweb.com.
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