A driving guitar chord opens “Moment,” the current single from Pinegrove’s third CD, Marigold (the band’s first for Rough Trade), and the mind immediately begins anticipating an exploding rave-up, only to be intriqued by the plaintive vocal calmly laying in thoughtful, introspective lyrics about living in the moment despite life’s daily challenges. And therein lies the essence of this band – the music provides the tension while intellectually provocative lyrics offer the release, charming the listener into leaving the player in repeat mode.
Pinegrove was formed in 2010 by childhood friends Evan Stephens Hall and Zack Levine and was named after a “beautiful and regulated, yet natural and messy” grove of pine trees on Hall’s college campus, a place he found creatively stimulating. And a place that shares that description with the band that has alternately been referred to as Alt-Country, rootsy Pop, Jam-y and Emo, all apt descriptions and noticeable in Marigold’s grooves. But what’s most evident on record and at shows, consistent with the genres assigned to Pinegrove, is the sense of community the music creates around it. A sense of community that is reflected by the huge fanbase the band has built while quietly touring around the first two independent releases.
While Pinegrove has established itself as successful touring band, radio is just discovering it with the release of Marigold and the early results are promising. As 2020 opens, 24 stations – including WRLT, KCSN, Colorado Sound, Birmingham Mountain Radio, WCNR, WTMD, WAPA and KBAC are spinning either “Moment” or the first single, “Phase,” setting up the 20s as the Pinegrove Decade.
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