The House Flies announce ‘Derelict Crawl’ and second album ‘Lions and Ore’
The House Flies release “Derelict Crawl” on 4 September 2026, the first of two singles from their seven-track second album “Lions and Ore”, due 6 November.
The House Flies, a four-piece post-punk and dark alternative band from Moline, Illinois, release “Derelict Crawl” on 4 September 2026 as the first single from their second album, “Lions and Ore”, due on 6 November 2026 through Wilhelm & Sons Entertainment Company. A second single, “Lost Literature”, follows on 2 October. The album is the first full-length to feature second guitarist Burnie Eckhardt, who joined during 2024.
Seven tracks are sequenced across two vinyl sides. Side A carries “Goodnight, Goodnight, Lover Dear”, “Lost Literature”, “Derelict Crawl” and “Snakes and Toads”; side B carries “Count Us Down”, “Shelter Me” and “The Glass, The Orchard”. The record goes out digitally, on streaming platforms and on Bandcamp, with a 12-inch black vinyl pressing limited to 100 copies sold through the band’s own Bandcamp page.
The band describes the writing as slower and more spread out than their earlier work: “This record feels more patient than our earlier releases. The songs take more time to build, and there is more space between the quiet parts and the heavy ones. A lot of the lyrics came from images that kept repeating: old houses, fields, heat, sleep, weather, and things slowly coming apart.”
Alex Riggen sings and plays guitar, Eckhardt plays second guitar, Ozzie Woods plays bass and Nick Pompou drums. Ross Mixes handled the mix, Michael Briggs the master, and Riggen the artwork and design. The band play a release show on 6 November at the Raccoon Motel in Davenport, Iowa, with King of the Weirdos, Company Dimes and Half Loves.
What The House Flies have released so far
“Lions and Ore” follows “Mannequin Deposit”, the debut album released on 2 July 2024 on digital and on opaque pink vinyl limited to 100 copies, and recorded in a basement in Moline. Its eight tracks run “She Hums Mozart”, “Sequin”, “Twilight Eyes”, “Queen Underground”, “Hounds”, “Apple”, “Marrow” and “Ghosts Will Speak Again”. Golden Mastering handled the master, and “She Hums Mozart” preceded the album as a single in May 2024.
Before that came the four-track “Glimmer EP” on 17 January 2023, carrying “Hounds”, “Sequin”, “Blue” and “Apple”. Its credits list only Riggen, on vocals, guitars, drum programming and Mellotron. The most recent House Flies release is the single “Sweet Foxhound”, issued on 16 September 2025 with a video.
About The House Flies
The House Flies began as a trio in Moline, Illinois, built around Alex Riggen on vocals and guitar, Ozzie Woods on bass and Nick Pompou on drums. The earliest material, the “Glimmer EP” of January 2023, was effectively Riggen working alone, with programmed drums and Mellotron alongside the guitars. The full band took shape for “Mannequin Deposit” in July 2024, recorded in a Moline basement and pressed on a short run of pink vinyl by Wilhelm & Sons Entertainment Company, the label set up in 2017 to handle releases by the gothic grunge band Murnau and its related projects, including the folk act Wilhelm.
Burnie Eckhardt joined on second guitar during 2024, taking the group to four members. “Sweet Foxhound”, released on 16 September 2025, was the first recording to carry that line-up. Coverage of the band to that point came largely from regional and independent outlets in Iowa and Illinois. The group mix post-punk, goth, shoegaze and heavier guitar music, and “Lions and Ore” is the first album they have written and recorded as a four-piece from the outset.
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