B-Side Guys

Meridia’s “Cut the Cloth” emerges from Bristol’s alternative scene with a meditation on aging that feels both deeply personal and philosophically weighty. The Plymouth-transplant duo of Elliot and Joey have crafted a track where classic rock muscularity meets ’90s introspection, creating a sonic bridge between their cited influences of Alice In Chains and Van Halen.

The track builds its existential framework around textile metaphors that unravel throughout. When they intone “Cut the cloth, unspin my thread,” they’re not merely playing with imagery—they’re dismantling time itself. This dissolution of selfhood continues as they describe “a bloated iteration with an oily sheen,” conjuring a visceral portrait of confronting one’s aging reflection while internally feeling perpetually seventeen.

What distinguishes “Cut the Cloth” is its instrumental architecture. The promised solo delivers, erupting midway with technical precision that honors their Van Halen influence without becoming derivative. The production maintains rawness while offering clarity, particularly in the rhythm section that drives the song’s momentum through its existential questioning.

Lyrically, Meridia excavates the disorienting space between youth and mortality. The striking admission “I’m no longer seventeen/I’m not struck in awe of innocence” sits in perfect tension with their later confession of “Never not feel like I’m only seventeen.” This contradiction forms the emotional core of the track, reinforced by the final, devastating acknowledgment: “In my frail purpose here, as if there’s any point at all.”

As part of their debut album “The Puzzling Meridian,” this track demonstrates how Meridia’s thematic exploration of balance manifests through temporal displacement—the psychological tug between who we once were and who we’ve reluctantly become. Their Bristol relocation seems to have crystallized their artistic vision, producing work that honors their influences while carving out territory distinctly their own.