We’re a little proud to have survived in this music industry for 20 years now and please don’t take the compilation title „Tired Like Dirt“ too literally. Even though there is some truth in it we stole it from a Gunner & Smith song and it has been in my brain for quite a couple of years so now it was the perfect time to get it out….. don’t know if people out there are interested in label compilations but I love it and for those who don’t we’ll also have some new shirts soonish but meanwhile enjoy and give some DevilDuck music a listen.…talking about Gunner & Smith there is a brand new song called ‚Edge Of The Water‘ on our compilation and it’s beautiful.

DevilDuck Records is turning 20 years in 2024 and some might say this has to be celebrated in whatever way……which might be true.

Even though we did a label compilation a while ago for our 15th anniversary what makes more sense than coming up with another one as it’s the artists who define the label and not the other way around, right?

When sitting down and thinking about a possible tracklist semi-creative people like me do have a bunch of ideas e.g. one artist is doing a cover of another or just putting rare tracks & demos on it and things like that. But I thought why shouldn’t it just be our current artists with some of their songs I like the most.

And that’s what „20 Years – Tired Like Dirt“ is delivering now with 13 artists and bands incl. only one cover and still a lot of newish stuff as we signed 6 (!) of these only last year.

We still do love Canadian artists (Marissa Burwell, Gunner & Smith, The Dead South) and some German ones are always obvious (Scotch & Water, Palila, Would, Wisent, Merlin Hydes, Kommando Kant) but after quite some time we have started to work with a British band (Conscious Pilot) and some U.S. Americans (The Macks, The Fourth Wall, Timesbold) again.

The running order came up a bit spontaneously which I always like because in the end it all makes sense…so kind of by accident all three bands & artists from Canada are from Saskatchewan and in a row here. Some new stuff is at the beginning of the album and for obvious reasons Timesbold had to close it.

‚The Long Run‘ from Palila is a newly recorded track and something like the single of the compilation as well as ‚Edge Of The Water‘ by Gunner & Smith so both can not be found anywhere else and of course „20 Years – Tired Like Dirt“ will be released on vinyl as well – who can live without?

Cheers & Love from Hamburg,

Jörg Tresp

Emerging with phoenix-like resilience from the ashes of the vibrant theatrical punk powerhouse Cheap Teeth, the newly formed Conscious Pilot takes the stage. Following the release of their debut single ‘Halfway To Hockney’, Conscious Pilot are back with their latest offering ‘Modern Religion’ on 19th January 2024. 

Crafted by Joe Laycock and Jack Sharp, both former Cheap Teeth members, the dynamic duo has joined forces with musicians from Catholic Action and Pressure Retreat, birthing a post-punk revival supergroup. Rooted in Laycock and Sharp’s shared passion for immersive, beat-driven soundscapes, this newly forged ensemble pledges to urge the listener’s ear into progressively choppy waters whilst simultaneously grounding them in firm lyrical soil. 

Being the inaugural track Conscious Pilot wrote for their debut EP, ‘Modern Religion’ signals a departure from their prior penchant for critical jabs at religion. Instead, the song acknowledges and appreciates the various means by which individuals validate their existence, whether through organised religion, music, exercise, or even seemingly unconventional activities like fishing. Carried by Sharp’s pulsing bass line reminiscent of a quirky rendition of Dusty Springfield’s “I Only Want to Be with You”, ‘Modern Religion’ mirrors Conscious Pilot’s quest for meaning as they venture into a fresh musical direction.

Of the single, Joe Laycock said “Modern Religion was the first song we wrote. It formed the conceptual foundation for this EP and indeed the project as a whole. Written about a lost individual in a perpetual struggle to find meaning, (pushed towards a sense of collective faith in an atypical religious ideology), the song is a symbolic reflection of our formative period. After choosing to move on from our former band, Cheap Teeth, which had been our predominant focus for the past seven years, we were ourselves experiencing such a struggle.”