Most popular music today features simple quadruple meters that are established in their introductions. However, some songs disorient the listener by creating a false sense of pulse, increasing rhythmic interest. Biamonte (2014) describes this effect as a type of formal dissonance that can announce the beginning of a section. Our study examines songs from the late 1990s to the present to determine how metrically nonstandard introductions operate and create meaning. We categorized these dissonances into three types: metric "fake-outs" [described by London (2006) as introductory patterns denied by later drum entrances], as demonstrated in Kings of Leon's "Sex on Fire"; ambiguous meter (in which pulse remains inconclusive teleologically or retrospectively), demonstrated in Radiohead's "Let Down"; and post-intro dissonance (where a seemingly clear introductory beat is later contradicted, but then returns as the true pulse), demonstrated in Interpol's "NYC". Our research team of undergraduates investigates how metric dissonance in popular songs generates engagement within a standard 4/4 framework. In a poster presentation, we combine Lerdahl and Jackendoff's (1983) dot-notation approach to metrical analysis with Geary's (2022) Drum Pattern Lexicon (DPL); this system provides a useful means for understanding how pulse perception shifts over the course of a song. We speculate on how these introductory metric dissonances — and the categories we propose — may relate to lyrical themes, album narratives, and listener experience. More broadly, we argue that metrically dissonant introductions strategically manipulate pulse to heighten attention, expectation, and engagement.