The House Flies – Derelict Crawl

It’s always a pleasure to see how post-punk evolves over the years, exploring uncharted territory and making the genre even more appealing to the ear. The best part of these experiments is how bands unleash fresh, unique ideas by creating catchy, memorable, engaging compositions that continually shift between calm, soothing, relaxing, ethereal, otherworldly moments and raw, unfiltered, aggressive segments. Between those two opposites, there’s always an outstanding vocal performance, offering emotional depth, complexity, and melody to the song. The House Flies do exactly that. They took all the fundamental elements of post-punk music and shaped them to their taste and liking, without losing the core essence of the genre. With “Derelict Crawl,” their latest single released today, September 4th, they once again prove how post-punk, as a longstanding music genre, still has so many things to say, and even sounds innovative by all means. Acting as the first taster of what you might expect from their forthcoming second full-length album “Lions And Ore,” slated for release on November 6th, this composition not only captures a brilliant band at its peak performance, but also showcases a new face of post-punk music. By placing additional sonic ingredients borrowed from goth, alternative, grunge, indie, darkwave, and art punk, they crafted a memorable listening experience that simultaneously bursts with sincere emotion and dark cinematic ambiance. Lyrically, as the band stated, “Derelict Crawl” deals with dial tones, worn leather, summer heat, and physical collapse. The House Flies are masters at painting a vivid state of unease through poetic, storytelling lyricism that unquestionably contributes to the emotional, melancholic, artistic allure. It’s undoubtedly one of those songs that will immediately penetrate your listening apparatus and stay with you long after the last notes and beats fade away, thanks to its charming, hypnotic, addictive properties. And most importantly, it’s not only a song that will appeal to post-punk, goth, alternative, and indie fans, but also to anyone who appreciates music as a true art form.

The House Flies are masters at creating a captivating atmosphere where all immensely reverby, perfectly articulated, ethereal, otherworldly elements craft a soothing atmosphere that draws listeners’ attention. From the opening notes, the band builds a nearly psychedelic ambiance that wraps around your listening apparatus and carries you throughout the song until the band decides it’s time for much heavier sonic maneuvers. During the choruses, The House Flies deliver those heavy, powerful, unfiltered, aggressive guitar riffs,  acting as a counterweight to the profoundly emotional vocal performance. The guitars certainly play a significant role in shaping these dynamics, as they bring interplay between palm-muted themes, melodies, and harmonies, and similarly palm-muted, clean riffs during the calm moments, while both guitars shine with all those generously distorted riffs during the choruses. All those layers articulate together without spoiling each other, proving that The House Flies thought about everything while writing and composing this fine piece of sonic artistry. In the meantime, the vocals guide the listener through every segment of the song with precision and finesse. It is nearly mind-blowing how emotional the performance truly is, as the lead vocalist contributes more than enough emotional depth, complexity, and melody to each segment. He steers the wheel, assuring the listener that this will be an enjoyable ride from start to finish, all while balancing low, mid, and high notes like a pro. Also, you’ll notice how the bass guitar is expertly tucked beneath all those mentioned orchestrations, but it’s still vividly audible in the mix. All those deep, dense, heavy, warm-sounding basslines contribute more depth, clarity, melody, and heaviness to this marvelous song without ever overwhelming the guitars. Besides all of that, the bass guitar also acts as a binding element that connects guitars with rhyhtmic patterns. The drummer is an expert in building tension and release throughout the entire composition, with all those calm rhythmic sequences lurking around the verses and immensely groove beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics shining during the choruses. This drumming performance contributes all the groove, pace, and dynamics this composition needs, while accentuating all those important parts and keeping the remainder of the band in line. Each instrument has its place and purpose in this sonic equation, ensuring a pleasant listening experience.

“Derelict Crawl” is a wonderful post-punk composition that vividly demonstrates a natural progression of an already incredible band. The House Flies never cease to amaze with their ideas and sound, and “Derelict Crawl” delivers brilliant ideas, outstanding instrumentation, and unfiltered emotion from start to finish. It’s one of those songs that showcases a fresh, unique, innovative, exciting face of post-punk music, proving that The House Flies are profoundly creative and skilled musicians capable of breaking the rules and shapeshifting the boundaries of the genre.  Once you hear it, you’ll await their upcoming second full-lenght album with great anticipation. Do not miss this gem!