Metric

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    Metric is a Canadian indie band founded in 1998 in Toronto, consisting of vocalist Emily Haines (who also plays the synthesizer and guitar), guitarist James Shaw (who also plays the synthesizer and theremin), bassist Josh Winstead and drummer Joules Scott-Key.

    The band (originally comprised of Haines, the daughter of British poet Paul Haines, and Shaw, a Julliard-trained guitarist who she met in Toronto) formed in 1998 under the name Mainstream, and released an EP that was electronica-based. In the fall of that year, Haines and Shaw moved to New York to work on new material, renaming the group Metric as a result. During this time, they also released their first official LP, Grow Up And Blow Away in 2001. Later that year, the group brought on Scott-Key (a native of Flint, Michigan who was studying at the University of Texas) and his friend Winstead, who both performed music and met the duo during a trip to New York. With the new lineup, Metric released their first full-length album, Old World Underground, Where Are You Now?, in 2003 and earned a Juno Award nomination for Best Alternative Album. Their follow-up CD, Live It Out, was released in 2005 and was nominated for the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the Canadian Album of The Year and the Juno Award nomination for Best Alternative Album. Their latest album, Fantasies, was nominated for the 2009 Polaris Music Prize for Canadian Album of the Year, and won Alternative Album of the Year at the 2010 Juno Awards.

    The band is known for a heavy mix of fast-paced New Wave/electropop music, which became their signature sound. In addition to her work with the band, Haines has performed with various indie bands, including Broken Social Scene (with Shaw), Stars, KC Accidental and The Stills, and has also recorded two solo albums (under Emily Haines and the Soft Skeleton), Knives Don't Have Your Back and What Is Free to a Good Home? The other band members have also branched into side projects.

    Discography:
    • Mainstream (EP) (1998)
    • Static Anonymity (EP) (2001)
    • Grow Up And Blow Away (EP) (2001, re-released in 2007)
    • Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? (2003)
    • Live It Out (2005)
    • Plug In Plug Out (EP) (2009)
    • Fantasies (2009)
    • Synthetica (2012)

    They have also contributed music to the following films:

    • Clean (2004) - "Dead Disco"
    • Tormented (2009) - "Monster Hospital"
    • Totally Spies: The Movie (2009) - "Gold Guns Girls"
    • Zombieland (2009) - "Gold Guns Girls", "Help I'm Alive"
    • Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010) - "Black Sheep"
    • Eclipse (2011) - "Eclipse (All Yours)"
    Metric provides examples of the following tropes:
    • Album Title Drop: The opening of "I.O.U.", which directly references the album title of the same name - "Old world underground, where are you now?"
    • Black Sheep Hit: Parodied with the song "Black Sheep" (which was used during the end credits of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and deliberately references an out-of-style song that becomes successful), then done for real with "Eclipse (All Yours)", a soft ballad that's just about the farthest thing from their signature sound (and became a hit on the back of the Twilight fanbase).
    • Break Up Song: "Wet Blanket".
    • The Cameo: Haines briefly appears in K-Os' "Man I Used To Be", The Stills' "Love And Death" and Julian Plenti's "Games For Days" music videos.
    • Canon Discontinuity: Although the band acknowledges they were originally called Mainstream, the EP of the same name has never been re-released, and none of the songs appeared on either of the EP's released three years later.
    • Colbert Bump: The band first came to prominence when one of their singles was used in a commercial for Polaroid cameras in 2001, but it was their inclusion on the Twilight: Eclipse soundtrack (and the accompanying music video) that really pushed them into the limelight.
    • Dress Rehearsal Video: "Gimme Sympathy" has Haines walking to a band rehearsal and (along with the band) suddenly changing outfits and seating placements as the camera continually spins around 360 degrees.
    • Early Installment Weirdness: The "Mainstream" EP had little to none of the signature sound the group would codify on "Static Anonymity" and "Old World Underground", was much more downtempo and electronica-based, and didn't have supporting bandmates Joules Scott-Key and Joshua Winstead (they hadn't joined the band yet).
    • Gratuitous Panning: "Ending Start".
    • Keep Circulating the Tapes: To date, the "Mainstream" EP has never officially been released, but it continues to be circulated among hardcore Metric fans on the internet.
    • Lyrical Dissonance: "I.O.U." features a rocking piano/guitar combo, starts out with some interesting lyrics about living life to the fullest...then transitions into a rant about child soldiers wishing falling bombs were shooting stars, all while the same kickass beat drives the song.
    • Messy Hair
    • Ms. Fanservice: Interestingly inverted. When the band first came to prominence, Haines was known for wearing skinny short skirts and frantic, hip-shaking dancing (which was a staple of their early music videos). As time progressed, however, she dropped the dancing and settled on more conventional attire.
    • New Sound Album: Live It Out dialed back the synthesizers and focused on heavy bass and guitar work, partially splintering the group's fanbase. Fantasies returned to the fusion of synthesizer-guitar that was prevalent on Old World Underground.
    • No-Hit Wonder: Despite their career stretching back ten years, a massive popularity bump with their tie-in single released on the Eclipse soundtrack and massive critical acclaim in their home country, their biggest album barely cracked the top ten.
    • Obligatory Bondage Song: "Torture Me". The video for "Poster of a Girl" also invokes bondage imagery, with Haines wrapping her hands in white strips of fabric and simulating being tied up.
    • Obsession Song: "Poster of a Girl", which depending on your interpretation, is either Haines obsessing over random sexual encounters or her reaction to someone who's infatuated with her.
    • Performance Video: A staple of the band's work, most videos just have the band performing in front of various backgrounds, or (in the case of "The List") the events leading up to a live performance.
    • Protest Song: "Succexy" is a veiled call to arms against the glamorization of the U.S. War on Terror.
    • Ripped from the Headlines: Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? is one long rant at the U.S. government's occupation of Iraq in 2002-2003. Several of the music videos (Combat Baby, Succexy) invoke anti-war imagery, and several of the songs (I.O.U. and others) reference child soldiers and anti-war sentiments.
    • Sanity Slippage Song: "Monster Hospital" and the accompanying music video.
    • Shout-Out: "The List" features the lyric "Broken accidental stars," a reference to Broken Social Scene, KC Accidental and Stars (three Canadian indie bands Haines has performed with).
    • Song of Song Titles: "Gimme Sympathy" invokes The Rolling Stones' "Gimme Shelter" and "Sympathy For The Devil", and the lyrics reference "Here Comes The Sun" by The Beatles.
    • Surreal Music Video: "Dead Disco" has the band playing in a studio with psychadelic imagery overlaid in the background - and Haines' gyrating hips.
    • The Ladette: Haines, who has made no secret of the fact that she can be just as bad as her male band members, and has cheerfully admitted to sleeping on mattresses in dirty motels (even when the band was big) and drinking like a fish.
    • The Oner: The music video for "Gimme Sympathy".
    • Trenchcoat Brigade: Worn by Haines in several of the band's videos.
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