Emily Haines, the front person of Toronto/NYC-band Metric, is a very lucky front person. She’s gifted with a distinctive voice and knows how to use its dramatic range and timbre like a carpenter knows which tools for what creation. She’s got gifted band mates who create striking aural backdrops to her melodious passion plays. She hit song-writing pay dirt teaming up with James Shaw, coming to forge an old-school understanding of how to perfect the three-minute power pop song: catchy singable melodies and killer hooks. Any luckier than this would have to be Ms.Haines’ call for the band to hit the casinos. Whether she realizes it or not many jaded over-40 music lovers wondering where the next Chrissie Hynde would emerge have only Metric to thanks. Those listeners would surely recount that particular day they first encounter Tattooed Love Boy on the progressive FM station, or got high in the dorm room while blasting side 2 of The Pretenders’ first album. In retrospect that release bridged the gap between punk and pop at the end of a wild decade for president setting music, plus it put an exclamation mark on the ‘70s with a woman-fronted rock band. This was no fluke, and The Pretenders were contenders for years to come. To have been ambushed by Metric’s 2005 Live It Out was a truly revelatory experience, feeling that same gust of excitement felt back in 1979; every tune emitting a certain raw passion beneath the expertly crafted songs, each having a momentous driving occasion to them, never at a loss for the perfect hook. Whenever the iPod shuffles back to it there is still an amazement factor, the same feeling when returning to that first Pretenders disc after a period. Metric’s newest Fantasies meets and exceeds the anticipation quotient of hoping for the next big passionate music event, although the influences of the musical world around them have seeped into the new project. That’s no issue for the musical tastes of open-minded souls cognizant of new commercial beats, trends and gimmicks. How Ms.Haines and Mr. Shaw come to find their distinct voice and sound will always be the question raised to any team or group creating in a smorgasbord of musical choices, but lucky for us, they know what they like.