Every so often, a song comes along that feels like a Polaroid left out in the sun- its edges curling, its image softening, but the emotions it evokes are still intact. ‘Flat By The Lake’, the latest from Warwickshire-based band Rubbish Party, is exactly that, a hazy and bittersweet postcard from a time that refuses to fade quietly into the past.
Led by German-American lyricist Evan Zorn Von Berg and flanked by a cast of UK collaborators including J. Edwin Galloway, Alfred Lavender, Edward Clutterbuck, and the delightfully enigmatic crimson creep, Rubbish Party aren’t here to reinvent the wheel. They’re here to spin it through memories, heartbreak, and a longing so sincere it hums just beneath every note.
There’s a sense of nostalgic storytelling that cuts through the song’s jangly rhythm section and layered guitar lines, nodding toward alt-rock mainstays without ever sounding derivative. You can hear echoes of classic Manchester melancholy in the songwriting, and maybe even a touch of cheeky chaos in the track’s winding groove.
Von Berg’s lyrics, pulled from deeply personal experience, unfold with the kind of poetic vulnerability that doesn’t ask for sympathy, just understanding. You can sense the weight of lost love in every breath, but also a flicker of warmth of what it meant to have had that love at all.
Recorded in the humble confines of Alfred Lavender’s home studio, the production isn’t flashy, and it doesn’t need to be. The arrangement feels lived-in, each member bringing their own piece of soul to the table. The result is a track that’s as much about feeling as it is about form.
If ‘Flat By The Lake’ is any indication of what their upcoming project ‘Love and Decay’ has in store, Rubbish Party are poised to craft something deeply resonant for anyone who’s ever tried to hold on to a fleeting moment, and found it slipping like water through their fingers.
