Pinegrove - Elsewhere (2017)
Niche: Midwest Emo, Indie Folk, Alt-Country
Location: Montclair, New Jersey
**** you qwertyy I'm doing this. So Pinegrove are pretty much the best group ever. I discovered them early 2016 when they played two tracks from Cardinal pretty often, Aphasia and Cadmium, though every time they played the tracks I would forget to look it up, and it went quite a while until I heard them from the time I was in high school gaining my first bouts of freedom, starting college through the dual enrollment thing. The tracks resonated with me like few songs have. I fell in love with the group, but with no timestamps to go on I was left in the dust. To me they bring back feelings of that transitional coming of age period that I'm still currently going through, symbolizing my hope for the future and my euphoria for the past.
Eventually, I did find the group's name, though I don't really recall how, a few months back and fell in love all over again. The melancholic, dirty southern countryside sound of alt-country (one of my new loves) paired with twinkly introspective midwest emo? Count me the **** in.
This release furthers that sound as a live album, sounding even closer to that vivid picture of Americana; eating briskets in Austin watching the band play at dusk with strings of lanterns overhead in an outdoor diner. **** I love the south at it's best. The beauty here is unbeatable.
9/10