24th March 2023
James Wells
One thing the Internet has definitely changed is the single format. Historically, songs were edited for radio play, and to fit on a 45rpm 7” single: for both, three to four minutes was optimal. Now, podcasts and lack of format-based restrictions mean that, at least outside of the mainstream, anything goes and has pretty much the same chance of getting aired at least by someone who digs it.
And so, with ‘I Am Weak’, Solcura may well draw on some retro references – the obvious ones being Soundgarden and Tool, as they mine a hefty grunge / proto-nu-metal sound with some thick, heavyweight riffing – but clocking in at an epic six minutes, it’s very much a contemporary single.
There’s certainly nothing weak about it: the guitars are strong, as are the vocal melodies, and it’s one of those songs that starts gently – simply voice and bass guitar – and then the guitar starts up and the riff slams in and it really gets going, with everything meshing together, interweaving to create a richly-textured sonic cloth where grunge meets prog-metal with a delivery that’s hard to fault. For all its tunefulness, it’s a song brimming with anguish in the grunge tradition, but there’s something eternally affecting about that kind of introspective emotional rawness tinged with self-loathing.
They’ve already played Bloodstock and supported Pulled Apart by Horses, and with a new EP in the offing, 2023 is looking promising for these guys.
Aural Aggravation 