Parking Lot Funeral is a solo project from Henry Pack, the mastermind behind the label Buzzkill Records. Henry seems to do it all, from drums, guitar & vocals to recording, mixing & mastering his and other local musicians’ music. He is also a talented mixed media artist, using some of his own work as album art. Buzzkill Records has been producing punk/alt/indie music since 2014 and Henry has played in several local bands since then including Discotelle, Mark, Hellaphant, and Velvetgut Parry.
Released in the last few days of 2021, “Thrill’s End” is the second bunch of songs from Henry under the name Parking Lot Funeral. This EP differs from his previous album by its faster tempo and skate punk/surf rock vibes.
We start this EP off with a track called “East Coast”, which is sure to be the fan-favorite with its similarity to early 2000s emo/skate punk sound. This song takes me back to middle school, listening to Jimmy Eat World and Blink 182.
“Nick Slack’s Van” is the fastest song on the album, featuring heavy riffs with screaming vocals and some guttural sounds reminiscent of songs in the metal genre. However, most of the songs on this EP stay true to the punk/alternative/indie sounds.
“Fall Back In” has my favorite guitar solo on the EP and there’s a lot of emotion to this one. The track, “Tendencies”, talks of anxiety and relates to depression which is relatable to many others that also deal with their mental health daily.
“Sever” starts off a bit differently from the rest of the tracks by beginning with vocals and a guitar riff. Then, halfway through, we get some hauntingly beautiful, synthy, outer space vibes that take us to the end of the tracklist. Parking Lot Funeral played around with some synth in the self-titled album and I’m happy to hear some of that making an appearance in this EP.
My top three tracks are a tie between “I-90”, “Nick Slack’s Van” and “Sever”. “I-90” has that surf punk/pop sound that makes you feel good, “Nick Slack’s Van” is a headbanger to mosh around to, and “Sever” is lo-fi gold that takes you to outer space on a synthesizer.
While listening to this EP, it’s easy to forget that Parking Lot Funeral is not a full band, we are just hearing Henry’s talent in drums, guitar, vocals and not to mention his skills at recording, mixing, and mastering his music. Henry Pack is an incredibly creative voice in the Knoxville music scene and we’re looking forward to seeing more from him. Be on the lookout for music videos for Parking Lot Funeral’s EP, “Thrill’s End”, in the near future.
