The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
Every Tuesday, the Sounding Board is a space for a short-ish review of a recent-ish release and conversations about new-to-you music. We’ll get things started with a write-up about a newer, likely underheard album, and invite you to share your music musings in the comments.
I thought there was no way I’d be writing about Wild Pink this week.
Since 2015, the band from Brooklyn helmed by singer-guitarist John Ross has engendered significant goodwill among the sort of people who have hard opinions about how to rank Neil Young’s discography. It’s a reputation built on a series of high-quality heartland rock releases, given a parasocial boost and extra weight by a cancer battle documented on 2024’s raucous Dulling the Horns and further burnished by the sort of advocacy through art that lands well with indie rock fans.
So, I was sure Still Coming Down, Wild Pink’s wonderful-but-slight sixth album,1 would be covered so thoroughly that writing it up here would be pointless. I mean, it’s a heartfelt record awash in gold-hued nostalgia and new-parent hormones produced by the ever-in-demand Alex Farrar and featuring the fantastic fretwork of MJ Lenderman. It seemed like a sure bet this thing was going to get widespread coverage.
That did not happen. Maybe it’s because the release of Wild Pink’s new album barely trails and coincides with several splashier albums.2 Maybe it’s because multiple outlets that would have written the hell out of this LP were just bludgeoned, beheaded and disemboweled like recently flopping fish. Maybe I was just wrong.3
In any case, as I set to work on this column, aggregators show only three reviews for Still Coming Down. That puts the album at risk of skating past people who would otherwise dig this album and makes giving it a hearty endorsement seem meaningful.
Still Coming Down is a generous serving of sonic comfort food made with rich ingredients and care. The LP sounds the way a big, steaming spoonful of homemade mac and cheese tastes. It’s simultaneously warm, wholesome, deeply familiar, nourishing and substantial despite not quite being a meal on its own.
Still Coming Down consists of nine songs of relatively mellow guitar-driven music that stays just lively and loud enough to qualify as rock. Accordion, wistful slide guitar and bright keys elevate the atmosphere and provide flourish. Lyrics that explore Kennedy assassinations, exult in parenthood and pine for the certainty of an afterlife ensure depth and intrigue.
It’s tasteful bar rock with a beating, bleeding heart in the mold of Bruce Springsteen and the Hold Steady.4 However, Wild Pink has a bit more coarse grit and slowcore tendency than either East Coast all-timer. It’s a combination of traits worthy of the crepuscular and artfully grainy photo that adorns the LP’s cover, and it sounds fantastic played loud.
Farrar, who’s worked with a cadre of cool bands that share commonalities with Wild Pink,5 is the perfect shepherd for this small flock. Ross’ guitar is a piercing sharp when it needs to be and an immutable swell of liquid when that better suits the song. Ross is not a vocal powerhouse, but he uses the instrument he has to be an emotive communicator. Whether Ross is channeling a sense of fatigue, worry, or bliss to the point of sedation, he sells it and Farrar keeps the honky tonk trappings from overcrowding the track.
Ultimately, the only real demerit against Still Coming Down is its brief length. A short, punchy record is a wonderful thing – especially if it’s a ripping punk LP or a psychobilly-adjacent sprint along the edges of a swamp. But Still Coming Down’s American waters beg for further luxuriation or a subversive twist. Ross has the perspective and skill to make something grand, so 32-minutes of music and a handful of admittedly great guests — including the always welcome MJ Lenderman —feels a bit light.6
Setting aside the album that could be for the Still Coming Down as it is, the LP is anything but a disappointment. Even skeptics of the high, quivering and twangy insurrection underway in indie rock are bound to find something to like in the album’s more forceful moments. Listeners drawn to this sort of music will be hard-pressed to find a more pleasant listen this year.
About the writer
Ben Hohenstatt
Ben Hohenstatt is an Alaska-based dog owner who moonlights as a music writer and photographer.
For more information, consult your local library or with parental permission visit his website.
Tags for this article
More articles by Ben Hohenstatt
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
The Sounding Board
A weekly column where New Music Tuesdays live on. Conversation is encouraged in the comments.
Department of
Conversation
What did we watch?
Superstore, Season Two, Episode One, “Olympics”
“Not a part of this. Just happy to be walking in the same direction.”
“It’s okay, it’s just a little baby fire!”
“You are strong. Women love you. People–”
“Your ceremony was not only reckless, it was lame, which is worse.”
I was a little confused by the status quo being restored without explanation, but apparently this was a special episode jumping back in time.
You know, I used to think a character like Glenn would be an absurd, exaggerated stereotype and not what actual Americans can be like.
“Your eyes are like lasers.”
“I know.”
Anything that gets past Mateo’s egocentric surface is really funny to me.
Amy unthinkingly making Cheyenne feel bad about herself is a pretty great plot turn. Amy really does want to do good; her problem is that she keeps hoping the order of words she says is the path to getting there, and what’s especially funny is that when she actually does things, she usually does pretty okay at them.
“I’m just saying, the woman makes conversation for a living.”
“My daughter’s getting married today. To a lesbian.”
“Okay, we – I’m – me? I’m the helper?”
“Do you have access to a team of white stallions?”
“A team? No.”
I know this is a weird observation, but I love how cheap this show looks. At least in the sense of almost always being shot in the one set.
“We went to the green card store.”
“The… green card store?”
“You see this? Looks like a stupid person wrote it. That was me. I was five years old.”
“Magic isn’t real. It’s tricks. Done by a liar. Remember that.”
“I thought we were gonna trade numbers or…”
“Oh! Hey! We’re not gonna do that.”
“Bonjour and sayonara, everyone!”
“Garret, you’re, uh…”
“Norwegian?”
“Fail! The vocals don’t come in for ten measures.”
“Wow. That must be excruciating. Your life is pathetic.”
“That’s what you said last time I told you.”
“I’m not cool. I don’t play the trumpet. I don’t wear tie-die shirts.”
“You think those things are cool?”
“You know what? I never tried writing it on a card before.”
“You stick yourself?”
“So bad. Right into the bone.”
“Maybe think of it as convincing a pregnant teenager not to drop out of school. Especially for something impossible.”
“You know, I used to think a character like Glenn would be an absurd, exaggerated stereotype and not what actual Americans can be like.” Glenn is a Canadian’s very accurate parody of a certain kind of American.
Yeah, I think NBC had the 2016 Summer Olympics broadcasting rights and wanted to cross-promote, so they ran this episode kind of out of continuity (and while the Olympics were still going on).
Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma – I got the feeling from the previous couple of Jane Schoenbrun films that they were definitely going to fully win me over at some point even if World’s Fair and TV Glow didn’t quite click. Very pleased to find that was accurate, and this is the film to do it! So much fun, so many strange and intriguing ideas, and so great to see a “love letter to classic horror” movie that has more on its mind than just film grain and gratuitous gore. Really loved Gillian Anderson here and the unusual visual style that perfectly sets up the blurred lines between reality and fiction that are being played with here. Really funny too, the more satirical Hollywood stuff is a blast. One of my favourites of the year for sure.
Tales From The Crypt, “On a Deadman’s Chest” – William Friedkin directing this episode about a rocker who wants to cut his guitarist’s new wife (Tia Carrere) out of his life and in the process gets a rather…PENETRATING tattoo! Friedkin does a good job, especially with the ending, and there’s some nasty gore and nudity. Has the problem of following a boring asshole protagonist and would be more interesting if it leaned into the obvious queer subtext of a man jealous of his friend’s female beau. The band itself is very Guns n’ Roses, a good reminder of how much hard rock was stuck in a no man’s land between hair metal and classic rock before Nirvana.
Elementary, “All In” – A robbery at a high stakes poker game, followed by murder and attempted murder, is not what it seems and involves spies and the NSA. And the person who ran the game and came to Sherlock and Joan for help isn’t what she seems either…she’s Joan heretofore unknown half-sister! The case is more interesting that usual. The discovery that Joan’s estranged father has another daughter is still TBD. And we learn Joan’s birth name, Yun.
The Twilight Zone, “The Fever” – Tonight’s episode sponsored by…FanDuel? This is apparently a comedy, but I surely didn’t find it funny. Reasonably well done but the supernatural element really added nothing for me.
Barney Miller, “The Layoff” – In 1975, as many of you probably know, NYC was broke. So broke it did something that would be impossible post-9/11 even with a progressive mayor: it laid off cops. Lots of them. Wojo, Harris, and Chano are laid off, only to get rehired due to a convenient plot twist: NYC was able to borrow money from Connecticut! I like that the writers did not entirely ignore reality. (The cutbacks are only mentioned in passing on Kojak.) Guests include Bob Dishy as an out of work broker who turns to crime, and Oliver Clark as a fur thief.
What did we listen to?
Scream Bloody Gore, Death
Listened to this because it’s considered the first death metal album, and, you know, makes sense. It’s basically everything you expect from the genre; interesting for it to land fully formed like this.
1001 Albums, etc.
Sonic Youth – Goo: a favourite, I’ve always thought this would probably be the best intro point for somebody who hadn’t heard SY before but it rewards deeper listening too, some of their best work for me.
Ride – Nowhere: never really got into Ride, I quite like shoegazy FX heavy stuff but the songs they hide under their waves of fuzz just aren’t that compelling to me. There are a couple of exceptions here (Vapour Trail is undeniably lush) but yeah, not my flavour of shoegaze.
My Bloody Valentine – Loveless: I had it in my head that I kinda preferred Isn’t Anything but having revisited them both for this list, I reckon they’re on a similar level. The weirdo guitar tones here are on their own magical level and I love the songs with strange swoopy, catchy riffs like “When You Sleep”.
Nirvana – Nervermind: I’ve never been the biggest Nirvana fan but it’s hard to ignore the power of this album, and I do really enjoy the thrashier, punkier, more melodic songs a lot even if some of the angstier stuff leaves me a little cold. Shame so much of the grunge stuff that followed leaned more into the mopiness, more on this later when I get really annoyed by Pearl Jam.
Crowded House – Woodface: pleasant! A Crowded House best-of was one of my dad’s regular-rotation CDs and when they really get it right they’re pretty great. I didn’t find a deeper dive into their album tracks particularly revelatory though, they can remain a best-of band for me.
Cypress Hill – Cypress Hill: enjoyed this more than I expected, they have some good grooves and the two rappers have a fun chemistry. Yes it’s a little one-note but the stoner vibes are pretty appealing, even to this non-stoner.
Julian Cope – Peggy Suicide: a classic “double album that would make a really good single album”, this is extremely self-indulgent but the high points are pretty great and it ends really strongly.
Gang Starr – Step in the Arena: solid hip-hop from the wordier, more laid-back end of the spectrum. It’s a shame so much of the more “alternative” hip-hop is all vibes, no hooks as it ends up feeling a bit samey (De La Soul are the major exception so far), this was pleasant but my interest faded as it went on.
MC Solaar – Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo: some French hip-hop, a new twist. There are some tracks here that foreshadow trip-hop quite interestingly but it lost me when it pivoted to a frantic five-minute ragga song late on, hard work.
Jah Wobble’s Invaders of the Heart – Rising Above Bedlam: really enjoyed this, a fun mix of Jah Wobble’s dubby basslines, African-style guitar and percussion and some more Middle Eastern style vocals alongside Wobble’s own deadpan charisma. An odd record but quite a fun one.
—
Blank Check, Mean Streets – a film I need to rewatch really, I’ve only seen it once and had the kind of “I’ve seen too many things influenced by this to judge it on its own merits” reaction they touch on briefly. An interesting and pretty thoughtful episode.
Screen Drafts, Albert Brooks – still working through this, I’ve only seen a couple of Brooks’ movies so I’m looking forward to using the higher rankings as a pointer.
Fascinating as Loveless feels like such a major step up from Isn’t Anything to me but then I listened to the former first.
I can’t really remember what my history with them was – I bought both on CD in the early 00s and hadn’t heard them before that, but unsure of the order. Loveless is definitely a big step up purely in terms of the mad guitar processing but in terms of the actual songs I have a lot of affection for both albums.
Seconded on Blank Check. Oh if only they would stay as tangent free, but maybe we can hope Scorsese inspired that. (Though I will lay heavy odds Taxi Driver inspires some wild tangents.)
I don’t think I’d still be a listener without the wild tangents tbh, but I like a good amount of variety in their episodes.
My issue of late is less the tangents and more the three hour run times that are more tangent than anything else. Unless the guys from How Did That Get Made are the guests.
Personally, I think that MEAN STREETS has gotten short shrift in light of Scorsese’s more stylistically confident work. This, and ALICE DOESN’T LIVE HERE ANYMORE, display his unique ability to combine the poetic realism of European art cinema (particularly its use of locations and social environment) with the behavioral naturalism of the American theatrical tradition of the post war era, particularly from the Adler/Meisner schools. MEAN STREETS manages to intelligibly place the motives and actions of his characters in an immigrant world that is incrementally changing, creating an environment that is incredibly dense and intricate. Frankly, he loses me a bit as the perspective becomes more focused on psychopathology.
Once Upon A Mattress – Recent 2024 score recording and what a wonderful musical! Shocked that critics gave it mixed reviews at the time and not shocked that it became a college/high school staple; tons of funny and genuinely romantic, clever songs, especially “Normandy,” and even now Winifred’s eagerness and big energy is subversive for a fairy tale princess. The Disney live-action remakes tried to do a progressive makeover for female characters but forgot to give them actual personalities or traits beyond “helpful” or “politically active” where Winifred is a distinct, funny character.
I think I heard about this one, and I thought the local radio played something from it, but I cannot find it in my notes. And unfortunately for me, whenever I try to remember what they sound like, I keep imagining local band Pink Fuzz instead. (Their single “Animal” last year was pretty sick.)