I first stumbled across thistle. after seeing a post about their extended vinyl release on my pal Coolverine Records Instagram feed (he’s well worth a follow if you love your vinyl). One click later, and I was standing right in the middle of their world which is a hazy, beautiful mess of fuzz, melancholy and sheer heaviness. Their It’s Nice to See You, Stranger EP had been out since July but within a few listens it was clear this wasn’t just another promising debut. This was the sound of a young band nailing their own strain of heavy gaze, full of heart and urgency, but without losing the scruffy, lo-fi edge that gives it all its charm.
The trio hail from Northampton and they’re very much a garage band in the truest sense. That detail matters here because you can hear the space they came from. Their sound fuses shoegaze haze with hardcore and punk grit, moving between beauty and noise with complete conviction. They’ve already caught the attention of just about everyone, Stereogum, The Line of Best Fit, Rolling Stone UK, and even the BBC airwaves via Steve Lamacq and Deb Grant. When you hear their music, you’ll get why. Cameron Godfrey, guitarist and lead singer, had this to say.
“We’re all super proud of all of the songs on this and it’s taken a lot for us to end up with the final project, with many obstacles on the way, as there are for many bands that have to balance their jobs, family life and mental health. I think the struggle shows in the music. Hopefully in a good way.”
Let’s hit play and get stuck in.
‘cobble/mud’ sets the tone straight away. It comes in snarling, with a wall of gritty distorted guitar yet there’s a delicious melody tucked just beneath the grime. It’s the sound of confusion, youth, and noise. There’s something cathartic about how it all empties out halfway through before returning all twisted and magnificent. For me, that’s exactly what makes it so addictive. It feels alive, unpolished and above all gloriously human.
Then comes ‘it’s nice to see you, stranger’, the title track and emotional core of the EP. It begins with that trademark heavy gaze pomp then settles back into grungy vein. The vocal melody is immensely hummable and hooky. When the heaviness returns in those in between passages its absolutely epic. Man, I can only imagine this is going to go off live!
‘fleur rouge’ opens with something dreamier, a kind of breath between the storms. There’s a delicate shoegaze shimmer under its surface, almost romantic, but still driven by that same raw fuzz that defines the record. It’s here that thistle. reveal just how versatile they are. Just listen to how they balance melody and aggression without tipping too far either way. The tones feel smeared and smudged, like watercolours in the rain.
Then ‘holy hill’ crashes through. Barely a minute and a half long, it burns fast and bright all jagged riffs and deadpan delivery. It feels like a live set crammed into ninety seconds, the kind of track that makes sense of their punk and hardcore roots. There’s that sense of DIY energy you can only get from a band who still record by pushing everything into the red just to see what happens. It’s the sound of three friends who live to play.
‘wishing coin’ closes the EP with something rawer and more open. The mix still growls, but deeper and guttural. Vocals and occasional screams cut through clearer; guitars veer from the chiming dreampop sounds to the all-out fuzz assault. It’s the perfect closer, touching on everything that makes this EP as great as it is.
It’s Nice to See You, Stranger captures that perfect collision of chaos and care. This is the sound of a young band throwing every ounce of themselves into the noise and somehow finding beauty in the wreckage. It feels both intimate and colossal, garage-born but stadium-ready in spirit. You can sense their hunger, that drive to make something real even when life pulls in every direction. For a debut, it’s astonishingly self-assured yet still wide open, like they’re already looking towards whatever comes next. Thistle. have arrived with something raw, loud and deeply human and I, for one, can’t wait to see where they go from here.
It’s Nice to See You, Stranger is out now on Venn Records. You can grab the five track EP digitally and on cassette and now you can get it on vinyl with five more bonus tracks. Head over to the thistle Bandcamp page to grab your copy.
You can follow thistle on social media here ….
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