One Artist at A Time: Pinegrove

31 Jan, 2025

• Artist: Pinegrove
• Website: https://pinegroveband.com/
• Years Active: 2010-2023
• Genre: Indie rock, midwest emo, alt-country¹

Source: Nowtoronto

I first discovered Pinegrove not from Pinegrove's songs themselves, but rather a cover. It was their song, Aphasia, covered by my tween self's favourite YouTube rising stars then: Cavetown. Revisiting Cavetown's version of Aphasia, I can see why I was pulled into the music. It's a sparse-sounding cover, had some wobbly vocals, and was relatable to my teenage longing then. From there, I went into a rabbit hole and listened to their album Cardinal on a loop every morning as I got ready at 6:30am.

I then had my upper high school years to focus on, and I completely forgot about Pinegrove. During COVID, as I was having a resurgence in my music-listening habits, I rediscovered it again somehow! I ended up listening to everything they've put out (including their live stuff that was available then) and following their career since.

They're currently on a hiatus (but seems like they're open to returning), but they have plenty of excellent music to be perused before they get something new released.

why I enjoy their music

Pinegrove's music is incredibly addicting. The frontman, Evan, does not have a very 'memorable' voice per se, and I say that with the best of intentions. He has a pretty normal-sounding indie band voice, but his enunciations and lyricism carry a lot of the music very well. Their music feels conversational, and could even be a more poetic type of journal entry if you take away the music from the words. You can hear each and every word he is saying - which is not something you can say about a lot of the music in the same niche.

Their instrumentation is definitely something that carries the music well for me. They have a very warm and full-sounding band backing each of the songs, and even in the pauses, they have catchy guitar riffs and drum sections. Checkout the song Dotted Line for an example of that.

I also absolutely love their use of pedal steel in their music! I'm not sure if I listen to many bands that use it often (or is apparent enough for me to notice), and it's something I greatly appreciate. Skylight is a great pedal steel-filled song IMO.

personal album rankings

1. Cardinal
2. Marigold
3. Skylight
4. 11:11

Note: I'm not including their live albums here, but do check out their Elsewhere 1 and Elsewhere 2 live albums on Bandcamp. I think they translate the live vibe they have well! Their Amperland, NY live album is also excellent.

recommended start

Start with Cardinal or Marigold. I would say go for Cardinal if you prefer a more raw-sounding and a more noisier type of music. The latter still has Pinegrove's handprints all over, but it has a warmer tone throughout and feels more polished overall. I've read some reviews that have commented negatively on that fact, but it never really changed how I felt about their music, honestly!

taste testers (and some favourites!)

1. Size of the Moon
2. The Metronome (love how the music reflects the title of the song too!)
3. Aphasia
4. Neighbor
5. No Drugs
6. Old Friends
7. So What
8. Darkness
9. Paterson and Leo (short and sweet with all the feels)
10. Angelina

favourite lyrics

from Dotted Line

may no memory hold my head up nor may no fantasy fold my head in

from Hairpin

through zinfandel eyes through infinite aisles one mile at a time i can't wait to go home to be there when the new world comes to forget where the old world was

from Darkness

some people spend their whole lives looking for someone who could understand while meanwhile a lilac blooming sometimes on the driest land

from Cadmiun

don't it always seem to go that you could hold it right in your hands collapsing & still not know (your hands' collapse & still not know)

from Aphasia

one day i won't need your love one day i won't define myself by the one i'm thinkin of & if one day i won't need it one day you won't need it

Thank you for reading my first entry to my new series! I don't know how often I'll post similar entries, but I think it could be fun to look back on albums and make some fun recommendations :)

The idea behind this series is to explore some of the artists I listen to - specifically those whose entire discographies I’ve experienced, and share the things I love about them! While individual albums might not warrant separate blog posts (I don’t always know what to write, haha), I’ve decided to compile my thoughts into one comprehensive post, like this one here!

Feel free to write up your own posts on the artists you enjoy! I've always found posts on music very intriguing to read, even if tastes don't always align.

[16/100] for #100DaysToOffload

#100DaysToOffload #music