There are songs that arrive fully assembled, wearing a little name tag that says, “Hello, I am a single.” Then there are songs like The House Flies’ “Lost Literature,” which apparently started as a bassline and simply refused to stop growing until it became an entire song.
Honestly, fair enough.
The four-piece band from Moline, Illinois, has built its sound around dark, post-punk-flavored rock, but “Lost Literature” reveals a noticeably more melodic and immediately catchy side of the band. Following a heavier single in “Derelict Crawl,” the track doesn’t exactly kick down the door. It strolls in, finds a groove, sits there for a while, and somehow makes you want to sit with it too.
The bass does most of the initial heavy lifting, joined by a steady drum pulse that gives the song its forward motion. What’s interesting is how little the band seems interested in escaping that groove. The chorus circles back on itself repeatedly, but instead of feeling like the song has run out of ideas, the repetition becomes the idea.
This is particularly effective because “Lost Literature” is dealing with memory and identity: the awkward space between who you are, who you were, and whatever happened in between. Alex Riggen’s lyrics use images like rental cars, porch lights, clover and quiet radio static to create something that feels like driving through a small town late at night when you have absolutely no business being awake.
Riggen has described imagining two people who know each other well, sitting somewhere familiar before eventually getting into a car and driving without much of a destination. It’s a simple premise, but the song wisely doesn’t explain itself to death. You can put your own memories into those empty spaces.
That’s probably the best thing about “Lost Literature.” It’s catchy without becoming annoyingly eager to be catchy, atmospheric without disappearing into its own fog, and repetitive without becoming stagnant.
Follow The House Flies
About the Author
A tenured media critic known working as a ghost writer, freelance critic for various publications around the world, the former lead writer of review blogspace Atop The Treehouse and content creator for Manila Bulletin.
