This House is Creaking Combines Grit and Glittering Alt Sounds in "Something Else"

Photo by Brandon Mendoza
Looking for your latest cocktail of grit and glittering alternative sounds? Search no further than Chicago-based band This House is Creaking’s latest single, “Something Else.” Their second release since their January album, I Want To Feel At Home Here, this song continues to push the boundaries of the band’s organically electronic exploration.
“Something Else” launches into the singularly gritty, yet well-adorned soundscape of This House is Creaking immediately. A fuzzed guitar riff plays off to one side of the mix, while breakbeat drums are tucked below a striking vocal, both casually performed and intimately close. The artful electronics start to creep into the arrangement, until finally, the chorus hits as a wave of explosive new sounds.
Distorted, autotuned vocals exist in lush layers, traversed by arpeggiating synth leads and driving guitar chords. It lands us in a grimy alt-tech world like that of Porches, then suddenly pulls back in the post-chorus, steering into a poppier indie rock world. There’s the instincts of The Backseat Lovers in the rhythmic chord progression, but the colorful landscape of computerized glitching that webs overtop can only be attributed to This House is Creaking.
Both gritty and intricately crafted, the band’s production and songwriting style are distinctive, and truly a sound we can’t get enough of. Check out “Something Else,” and the rest of This House is Creaking’s discography: