Money, power, and sex. The near-perfect 21st-century trifecta and three words that explain so much of our world. They are the figurative carrots society uses to encourage compliance and creativity to its benefit. Not a perfect system, but one that has managed to usher in an untold technological revolution in a critically short period of time. And not without cost, as greed is a powerful motivator if an insatiable master — ask any member of our ill-lustrous billionaire club.

“Sometimes it’s better to live through someone’s work than the person themselves, and to realize that every human being is flawed, but through art they can be perfect.”

Metric was formed in Toronto, Canada in 1998 and consists of members Emily Haines (lead vocals, synthesizers, guitar), James Shaw (guitar, synthesizers, theremin), Joshua Winstead (bass, synthesizers), and Joules Scott-Key (percussion). Bandname Metric would be chosen, as Haines explained to Spin magazine, “It came from a song that Shaw and I were working on back in Toronto in the early days, like ’97 or ’98. Jimmy had a song that involved a sound he’d programmed into his keyboard and called ‘Metric.’ When we saw that word on the keyboard’s LED screen it looked so electro. It had a no-bullshit vibe. It was a little cold and standoffish and we’re down with that.“

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“[When] you’re a writer, you know that a lot of times you have to sneak up on yourself in order to achieve what you want to achieve, and sometimes you don’t even know what it is until you’ve done it.”

Haines explained “Gold Guns Girls” creation to Drowned In Sound, “When Jimmy sent me this song as a rough sketch I listened to it over and over while watching Scarface, dreaming up ideas. The lyrics I wrote look at greed in all its forms, and the fact that we seem programmed to be insatiable. If we could do a million-dollar video for this song it would be a remake of that montage scene from Scarface – including the tiger!”

The song would end up sporting a driving beat to rapid-fire vocals punctuated by bursting cheers and riffing guitars over tachycardic drums. Greed-damning lyrics and a steely New York street rat race would serve as finishing touches to their laissez-faire capitalist nightmare noir, brimming with angst, spunk, and an ending so apropos.

“That’s the main work that I’ve done in my life – really wanting to get past that gender trap where there’s a certain nudity in poetry. It’s not about showing my soul, it’s about observations.“

World-famous comedian George Carlin once proposed that the illustrious Ten Commandments could be blessedly condensed to a mere one, “Treat others as you would wish to be treated.” Conversely, I would propose one more personal incentive to Metric’s near-perfect list, one they personify. A love of beauty.

“You don’t want to be conscious of everything.”

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Interspersed quotes are from Emily Haines
Metric has a huge write-up on Wikipedia for those wanting to dig deeper
Cover Art “triflection” © 2023 – disturbedByVoices – All Rights Reserved