Metric, Sebastien Grainger, Band of Skulls June 8, 2009

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.