New Singles from baby rock astronauts, Pinkest

By: Jordan Neal

Originally published February 16, 2019, by Plasma Magazine 

Pinkest is back again with a doubleheader single release titled “Here Leaves Today,” and “The Heartbeat of America.” The first track, “Here Leaves Today,” starts like a chaotic psychedelic glory march. Sarfaraz Syed’s bass line and Gabe Patterson’s drum pattern provides a solid and driving groove that pushes the song forward and gives the other members room to experiment. Throughout, you can hear influences of theatrical music, jazz, and progressive rock in the twisting chord changes featured in the first track. Lyrically, the song reads like a passage from a personal diary entry. “I love my cats, I killed my plants, I found a job...,” belts Ethan Smith. The song is filled with noodling guitar lines and pulsing riffs that wrap the track in a tight package. The whirling synth towards the end of the track blend perfectly and function as a sonic connection to the phrase heard at the beginning of the song.

The second track, “The Heartbeat of America,” starts with a funky drum pattern and a surprising clarinet part played on top of a bed of jazzy guitar riffs and a walking bassline. Smith’s lyrics, “I live alone with the TV come on, give me your hands, and give me your ears,” function as a bit of foreshadowing to the themes presented in the rest of the track. Themes related to the anxieties of American existence. “You need to behave, like a dog that’s yet to be chained,” is an example of the contradictions and the resulting anxieties of such found in American life. We’re taught many things while growing up and when we reach the independence of adulthood things we thought were fact begin to skew and change. The composition of this song does a great job of reflecting that. The ornateness of the song mixed with the moments of musical counterpoint, found in the dueling and simultaneous saxophone solo, scream nonconformity.

The two tracks are fun and energetic but are filled with reflective content both subliminal and overt. Pinkest is establishing themselves to be quite a force in the music scene, and we can’t wait to see what’s next. For now, you can follow them on Instagram and check out more of their music here.