Metric may not be the most popular act to emerge from Canada's storied Broken Social Scene—that would probably be unlikely iPod darling Feist—but they're certainly the most winningly poppy and polished. One of their past albums, Fantasies, is another fine collection of impeccably catchy, synth-tinged rock songs, kicked off by the truly killer single "Help I'm Alive," in which frontwoman Emily Haines sings about her heart "beating like a hammer," like some divine echo of the Breeders. Haines's voice is as alluring as it is authoritative, and her veteran band's arrangements are airtight. For big, glossy, whip-smart pop rock, you can't do much better. Best of all, Haines onstage is like a bag of Pop Rocks washed down with soda pop: sweet but dangerously combustive. by Eric Grandy