Slick Nickelback Lets Its Metallic Strength Shine

It’s always intriguing when a band comes out of nowhere. You may not have known who they were a few months ago but suddenly you see their faces and hear their tunes everywhere. With its second album, “Silver Side Up,” which has been in the Top 10 since its release last month, Nickelback fits the bill, and the Canadian quartet’s sold-out performance Thursday at the Key Club showed that they deserve the attention.

The catchy hooks and slick production of the radio-friendly “Silver Side Up” make Nickelback sound a little too formula at times, but on stage the band revealed an urgency and metallic power that the record only suggests. Singer-guitarist Chad Kroeger commanded the spotlight with his deep, raspy vocals and adept strumming, while Ryan Peake offered a worthy, if less showy match with his thick guitar riffs and raw vocal harmonies.

If they were trying to prove they have a heavier sensibility than bands such as 3 Doors Down , they did so beautifully with a fervent version of Bruce Springsteen’s “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” Their own material came off equally forceful, and while many in the audience seemed to know tunes from their first release, “The State,” it was songs from their latest recording that got the biggest reaction. The angst-filled power ballad hit “How You Remind Me” capped the show nicely, but it was the more relentless moments that ultimately demonstrated Nickelback’s real strengths.