By Stan Cierlitsky
Make no mistake about it: Wild Pink is primarily an indie noise guitar band, and on their sixth album, Still Coming Down main man John Ross takes this one to 11. I must admit that I am fairly new to Wild Pink. I got to know them on their 2024 album Dulling the Horns with gems like "The Fences of Stonehenge" and "Eating the Egg Whole" among others.
What makes Still Coming Down different is the subtle blending in of the neo-country. It probably won't be a surprise to know that MJ Lenderman and Lenderman's The Wind bandmates make an appearance on this album to help with the arrangements.
Even though this is pretty straightforward indie rock, there really is so much more here when you start peeling apart the onion. Ross's voice is pretty standard and he kind of reminds me of Wintersleep. But, man, he writes about some strange, cool topics. He's been described as a "narrator of a warped and unpredictable America" and I get that. He even sings about my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers on my favorite track "500 is the New 250", a song that mixes the neo-country with hard, fuzzy guitars which are reminiscent of Pixies. The song slows down for a moment and delivers my favorite line on the album: "There was a big guy who had a big tattoo that said 'F*** you Yankee bitch!'"
The first single, "Round of Applause at the End of the World" is another favorite. It sounds like an accordion is leading the way over the guitars. He's mostly singing about American assassinations. When was the last time you heard Sirhan Sirhan mentioned in a song? Or Jack Ruby for that matter? But this is such a great, powerful song.
Most of Still Coming Down keeps the foot on the pedal, with Ross delivering high energy songs with lots of interesting sounds and lyrics. Things do slow down for a minute on "Simple" but, of course, that one ends in a bigger way.
This is one that's definitely worth checking out as there's so much here to like.
Still Coming Down by Wild Pink is out on August 21 via Fire Talk.
[Photo: Uncredited press photo]