Album Notes

Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? reviewed:

"Do you miss Elastica? Now you don't: This LA quartet artfully fuses Brit pop, punk and swirling synths, while singer Emily Haines delivers sweet irony." - Rolling Stone

"Haines' sweetly edgy voice and slinky synths never waver, even as the songs veer from playfully danceable to elegantly eerie." - SPIN

"It would seem that Metric has managed to do the impossible, the band has perhaps crafted a sound so creatively unique it could be described as genuinely original." - The Trip Wire

"James Shaw and Joules Scott-Key provide well-crafted tunes for front woman Emily Haines, who sings sometimes political, sometimes lovely, sometimes referential lines with a voice that comfortably nails pop...." - Under The Radar

"This band is onto something good, and if songs like "Hustle Rose" and "Succexy" are any indication, this record is only the beginning...." - Bust

"Metric's tunes are hardly the same old electro-rehash. Catch the band live where their screaming guitars and Haines' hip-swivels simply scream pop stardom...." - Alternative Press

Old World Underground....short bio:

Metric's 2003 debut, OLD WORLD UNDERGROUND, WHERE ARE YOU NOW?, was a statement of both resignation and resurrection: when the underground you once romanticized has given way to pre-fab Rebellion™, grab a shovel and start digging your own subterranean sanctuary. But spend enough time down and out of sight and you start feeling the need to come up for air. And when Metric did just that after a year of ceaseless, club-by-club conversions, they were confronted with a strangely beautiful sight: a crowd of people looking right back at them. The very fashionistas and consumerists they slyly satirized in songs like "Dead Disco," "Combat Baby" and "The List" were singing along with them. And it felt good.

That's the funny thing about the never-ending battle between pop and art - the goalposts keep changing. And for Metric's Emily Haines (vocals/synths), Jimmy Shaw (guitar), Josh Winstead (bass) and Joules Scott-Key (drums), the most exciting thing is being able to play for both sides. Over the course of 2004-05, Metric were everywhere, from MTV and commercial rock radio to French art-house cinemas (the band made a show-stopping cameo in Oliver Assayas' 2004 junkie drama CLEAN); depending on the night, you could find Emily playing sombre solo piano shows in churches, or diving off the stage at Toronto's Mod Club Theatre, where Metric played an unprecedented four sold-out nights in a row in January '05. This is a band comfortable making music for both the misfits as the masses.

Produced by Michael Andrews at Elgonix Labs
Recorded and mixed by Edson Miller
Artwork by Josh Hassin