Another day, another bunch of Canucks arrive to take over the world. If it’s not Neil Young it’s Alanis; if Arcade Fire don’t do it then Broken Social Scene will. Yet Metric could be the ones to trump the latter two – for all their hype, they’re still indie bands playing to an indie scene. Metric are the sort of band who could transcend that.

Part of the reason for this is that they play extremely melodic and strong fem-fronted rock music – there’s less of a ‘scene’ element to this, and artistically-speaking it’s less satisfying than the likes of Broken Social Scene, with whom front grrrl Emily Haines and guitarist James Shaw also perform. But it’s also a hell of a lot more immediate – songs like “Glass Ceiling” are just rip-roaring tunes, relatively straight-forward but with a strong edge that is all their own.

“Poster of a Girl” adds layers of keyboards, but it’s the strong melodies, mega-sized hooks and incredibly cool dynamics that make Metric stand out amidst a sea of new-wave revivalists. The star is most certainly Haines – her voice is front-and-centre throughout Live It Out, the band’s third album, as she weaves her sinuous voice throughout the strong rhythms and twisted guitars that mark Metric’s sound on the likes of the excellent “Monster Hospital”.

For, yes, as much as Metric are part of the nascent Montreal scene, there’s something decidedly more mainstream about them than a host of their contemporaries. Like Stars, there’s a combination of aggression and femineity to Live It Out that sets it apart. That, and there’s a bevy of absolutely killer tunes on the album, which most certainly helps. Since this album was originally released in Canada in 2005, Metric have become a hot property for major labels, and it wouldn’t surprise to see their fourth album make the band a very big deal indeed.