Solity: Booze, Blues And Broken Bones

Hailing from Lund in Sweden, Solity have just released their debut album Booze, Blues And Broken Bones. Now that title doesn't quite know what to suggest, with everything from thrash, or power metal, right through to sleaze being conjured up and so it goes with the album itself. In the end, the whole thing ends up somewhere between the out and out punch of The Almighty, the sleaze of Vain and post-thrash era Metallica, with a drum sound and Hetfield a-like vocal performance that wouldn't be out of place on the latter's Load album. That said, there are some gang vocaled choruses, sleazy riffs and an almost punk like attitude in places, making in the end for an album that lacks focus and attack.

It isn't that BB&BB doesn't have some smart songs and tight playing on it, it does, but unfortunately the end results miss the mark, satisfying only for fleeting moments, before you start to lose interest. "Never Enough" for example has a killer guitar solo, squealing and scorching for all its life, but the song itself is just so one dimensional, while "Playboy Boogie" kind of wants to be a 70's Glam track, with awful lyrics, before a Megadeth like staccato guitar burst threatens your speakers. Both parts actually work quite well, but the fusing of the ideas is clumsy and only serves to detract, making the sum weaker than the parts. Then from there "Bitch" suddenly clicks into place, with the snarling, spitting vocals (although the lyrics ain't too smart here either), matching the bristling guitars, throbbing bass and surprisingly catchy chorus. "...The End" succeeds where "Playboy Failed", by taking a Glitter Band like riff and bringing it smack bang into wince inducing, yet danceable metal territory. However for every success, there's a lame piano-punk ballad "Going Home", a rock by numbers "Breaking News", or unfocused, uncontrolled, schizoid power-pop-punk-thrash "Shit Rolls Downhill".

When it comes off, Booze Blues And Broken Bones has a lot going for it, but filler outweighs the killer by about 2 to 1 and that isn't good enough in anyone's book.

Track Listing
1. Gunslinger Kiss
2. Down To The River
3. Playboy Boogie
4. Breaking News
5. Bitch
6. Never Enough
7. Once Upon A Time...
8. ...The End
9. Mind The Gap (Blackout)
10. Going Home
11. Shit Rolls Downhill

Added: June 9th 2012
Reviewer: Steven Reid
Score:
Related Link: Solity MySpace page
Hits: 1792
Language: english

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