Pitchfork

If only this song's sparse synth motif were rain sticks instead of exasperating laptop sci-fi shit, Emily Haines and James Shaw could've been onto something. OK, maybe Metric never meant to make us weep á la "Anthems For a Seventeen Year-Old Girl" or do anything, really, but make kids dance. Problem is, "Police and the private" doesn't even do that. So close to being good, it's ultimately unsuccexy-- never detonating the way it could, let alone the way we'd like it to. Emotionally, physically, whatever: This doesn't move."