Wild Pink

There’s a novelistic impression to the songs of Wild Pink, where characters peer over the edge of potential futures, past mistakes and paths not taken. Backed by a dive bar hue, NYC-based frontman John Ross blends the existential with the celestial, gathering pieces of passer-bys, fictional figures, and historical idiosyncrasies to make sense of what’s in front of him. It’s on their sixth album, Still Coming Down, that Ross cements the voice he’s been steadily honing over the years.

The album pokes fun at the listlessness of consumerism, coping through detachment and finding the punchline of it all. Ross is a consummate of curiosity, becoming a narrator of a warped and unpredictable America, morphing everyday mundanity into a cinematic, sepia-toned flipbook. Propelled by the witty and ravenous wisdom of 2024’s Dulling the Horns, Ross’ poetic form has only gained traction, as jocular, heartfelt stories pour with a clever and distinctive ease.

NFL bros cruise alongside big guys in grocery stores with even bigger tattoos; ghost stories and references from the cinematic haze of movies like Heat, Moneyball and The Town buzz in the background while Ross also points to Waterworld and The Perfect Storm––heroes who wander, looking for answers at the end of the world.

After battling––and beating––cancer, and now becoming a father for the first time, Ross’ outlook has hairpin-bent its way into a simpler significance, where creating music is less about the bigger picture, and more about being present in the moment. It’s a genuine rock record, leaning into the dynamics of open-armed arrangements, inviting huge chords, harmonicas, horns, keys and pedal steel to morph and blend into a cathartic swirl. Ross looked back to the grunge bands he was obsessed with as a teen, and found that it sparked a deeper presence with his own voice, both in lyrics and performance. He endeavoured to create an album that is as fun to play live as it is for the audience to witness, harkening back to the enthusiasm and motivation he felt growing up. “Strangely, I feel like I've found my voice on this record,” he says.

Still Coming Down was recorded in one week in Asheville, NC at the renowned Drop of Sun studios with producer and engineer Alex Farrar (Bnny, Wednesday, Samia). Vocal takes were done in two to three bursts, marking a less laborious process than previous records. “There was not a ton of overthinking,” Ross says. He invited friends to collaborate throughout, mimicking the carousel of characters that comes with living a life on the road. Longtime Wild Pink member Dan Keegan lends his percussive talents, with Meg Duffy (Hand Habits), MJ Lenderman and Lenderman’s The Wind bandmates Landon George and Xandy Chelmis adding a raucous vigor to the arrangements.

Shortly after forming, the members of the New York-via-North Carolina indie rock band Hiding Places noticed a secret power. During their live sets, no matter the loudness, scuzziness, or mayhem of the venues they played, their tender, atmospheric sound became the focus of the room, quieting their surroundings as audiences became hypnotized by their steady, rhythmic interplay and bittersweet vocal melodies. From these experiences, the band developed a credo of close listening. If one member plays too fast, they won’t try to nudge down the tempo; if someone’s volume rises above the rest, they adapt their levels accordingly. The goal, always, is togetherness—to maintain a unified whole, always in sync. This philosophy is part of what makes the quartet’s cozily intricate and hard-hitting Keeled Scales debut, The Secret to Good Living, feel like a bold introduction as much as a well-worn mixtape, passed down from a trusted friend.

It makes sense that the band formed while three of its members were DJs at their college radio station at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. They embrace music as a means of communication, identity-forming, and deeper understanding of human nature. …