I wanted to use the line, “I’ve got problems, but a [insert problem] ain’t one,” when writing about “Problems” by Seum, but it can’t top their lyric, “I’ve got 666 problems, but a riff ain’t one.”
Riffs, fuzzed-out guitars, guttural vocals, and bone-crunching rhythms are all good problems to have. “Problems,” from the upcoming Halloween release, Conjuring, where Seum and Temple of the Fuzz Witch showcase their talents in a split album, delivers four minutes of pure glory.
The band says of the track:
“A playful take on all the problems we encounter as your average aging musicians. We are using our side of ‘Conjuring’ to conjure and deal with our problems.”
Gaspard Carey‘s visceral vocals set the mood of the song. His guttural snarls convey the frustration of not only ageing musicians but ageing in general. Drummer Frédéric Lepoutre and bassist Piotr Ignatowicz create an atmosphere of doom and gloom, with thunderous rhythms that hit like blows to the body.
Angsty, feisty, and ferocious, “Problems” is a wonderful soundtrack to the existential dread of ageing.
