The House Flies- Lions and Ore

# The House Flies – Lions and Ore

The House Flies make a very strong return with Lions and Ore, a seven track record which is a real dive into the darker side of post-punk. Rather than a constant wall of sound they build the record on contrast, moving between the quiet and the loud. “Goodnight, Goodnight, Lover Dear” is a very effective opener, starting off in a near hymn-like fashion with very domestic imagery and then building into a much fuller guitar sound. It’s a very good way to start the record and it immediately establishes the balance of the record between the soft and the hard. “Lost Literature” comes next and has a very immediate melodic hook, using the idea of a night drive and bits of memory to create a very restless, contemplative mood. It has a real post-punk pulse which gives it drive and its melody is one of the most accessible on the record. Those two opening tracks in particular go a long way to establishing an album that is just as much about atmosphere as it is about impact.

“Derelict Crawl” is a much more direct and heavy piece, all based on repetition and the rather jarring refrain of “We don’t belong”. That line is the entire point of the song really, it’s a statement of alienation and dislocation and the band are quite happy to let that line do the work. “Snakes and Toads” is a very different proposition, it’s a much slower song and brings in the devotional language with the animal imagery and the darker textures. It’s a different kind of tension, a way of holding your attention without necessarily having to go at the full tilt. The other three tracks on the record “Count Us Down”, “Shelter Me” and “The Glass, The Orchard” complete the seven song journey and their titles add to the overall sense of the album which is all about the world of uncertainty, refuge and the rural. The notes we have on those three tracks are much more sparse but they do help to give the record a sense of progression rather than just a series of disparate singles.

Lions and Ore sees The House Flies drawing on the post-punk, goth rock, shoegaze and grunge influences, though it’s the way those elements are blended that makes the record work. There’s clearly a debt to the moody atmospherics of The Cure and Bauhaus, the drive of Joy Division and the more contemporary guitar work of Interpol, but the band’s Midwestern sensibility is very much in evidence. It’s the first full length to feature Burnie Eckhardt on guitar (alongside Alex Riggen on vocals and guitar, Ozzie Woods on bass and Nick Pompou on drums) and the wider line up adds a new dimension to the sound. It was recorded in Alex Riggen’s basement, mixed by Ross Mixes and mastered by Michael Briggs. Released 6th November 2026 via Wilhelm & Sons Entertainment Company, it’s an album that builds its own identity through atmosphere, repetition, heavier transitions and a certain amount of melodic restraint. It’s an album that’s going to appeal to those who like a bit of darker alternative with room for both the intense and the reflective.

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