Palm Coast-originated emo band Home is Where was featured on Pitchfork’s ranking of the 100 best songs of the decade so far, an article the prestigious music publication posted last week. The honor is the latest in a string of accolades achieved by the group since they rocketed to mainstream success in the last few years.
The band consists of Palm Coast locals Bea MacDonald, Josiah Gardella, and Connor O’Brien, plus later addition Tilley Komorny. The three Palm Coasters formed the group in 2017 along with founding member Trace George, cutting their teeth playing small festivals and house shows in and around Flagler County. They released their debut album ‘I Became Birds’ in 2021, and their follow-up ‘The Whaler’ in 2023.
Pitchfork selected the song “Long Distance Conjoined Twins” from the band’s debut record as the 70th best song released so far in the 2020’s, from any genre of music worldwide. Their write-up references the band’s origins and radical fusion of genres that created the wholly original hard rock sound that defines Home is Where.
“The song flashes through a series of humidity-soaked scenes in rural Florida – tipped-over cows, ‘preservative sun showers,’ altar boys kicking a mall Santa – that capture a yearning for something more, all the while knowing it may be denied,” said Pitchfork writer Nina Corcoran. “Home Is Where’s homegrown blend of emo, folk, and punk is proudly scrappy and knock-kneed on I Became Birds, and the song’s roving harmonica bolsters MacDonald’s untamable resolve.”
In addition to this newest accolade from Pitchfork, Home is Where has been attracting a slew of honors and spotlights from various major music commentators. Stereogum named them a ‘band to watch’ in 2022, Paste ranked ‘I Became Birds’ among the 30 best debut albums of 2021, and Billboard rated the album one of the 50 best of the first half of that year. The initial review of the album by Pitchfork awarded it an 8.0, the same score it gave to classics like Cyndi Lauper’s ‘She’s So Unusual’, Taylor Swift’s ‘Folklore’, and the Rolling Stones’ ‘Goats Head Soup’.
“Delivered like a final doomsday sermon,” Corcoran continued, “‘Long Distance Conjoined Twins’ turns delirium into a get-out scheme worth seeing through.” The song recently became the band’s first track to achieve one million streams on Spotify, with at least two more close behind it.
Home is Where is preparing to perform at the Best Friends Forever festival in Las Vegas later in October, and have hinted on social media that more new music is on the way. Their music is accessible on Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp. They have a social media presence on X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook.
