Hello Stranger’s not-so-secret weapon is Commagere, a smooth-voiced, long-legged vixen who’s effortlessly sexy whether she’s playing vulnerable or sassy. That puts her in league with Emily Haines of Metric, but vocal style isn’t the only trait that the two bands share. Just like the sterile recording quality of Metric’s Old World Underground, Where Are You Now? there’s a dull brightness to the engineering on Hello Stranger that renders tracks such as “Robody” and “Which Side Is Mine” strangely toothless, despite their juicy hooks. Of course, the band’s riffs are so punchy, their harmonies so rich and melodies so sweet that teeth problems were bound to crop up anyway. An auspicious debut.