Review Summary: Put your good shoes on, comb your hair, we're going out tonight
Named for a Ben Howard song, Olde Pine are a quietly successful emo band in a scene that is bursting at the seams with contenders. Early releases saw the quartet (originally as a duo) craft winding ‘twinkle daddy’ fare that blended emo confessionalism with technically impressive math rock influences. On paper, this formula is far from original, but on their latest record, The Jawns, Olde Pine seems to be more than willing to differentiate themselves from the crowd of their contemporaries.
Opener “Ham Porter” introduces itself with punchy guitar work and a cheesy synth that could have been ripped from a Smash Mouth cut. Straight-faces, then, are clearly not this record’s affinity, but that’s far from a detriment. A vein of nostalgic fun winds through The Jawns, from the cover art to the smart and always pleasant instrumentation. “Tip a tall beer back, cut yourself some slack” sings the band’s collective vocals in “Delgrengo’s”, opening the listener to the lighthearted attitude inherent in the record. It’s this breezy feeling that makes the more emotional moments of The Jawns seem that much more poignant. “Mr. Pavo’s Jackhammer Tricks” provides our first of these moments, slowly burning to a dark, reverb-heavy peak that stands out as one of the best moments on the album. These more tender moments are spaced relatively evenly throughout the record, giving it a roundness that prevents the pitfall of feeling like an aimless collection of songs.
This isn’t to say that the subject matter of the songs is overwhelmingly saccharine. “I thought I’d give you some advice on how to stay the *** out of my life” is a perfect example of a lyric (taken from “Dope Anchor”) that blends the tongue in cheek nature of the record with more serious subject matter in a way that skillfully reconciles the two. The themes of the record explore the typical emo fare of friendship, love and growing up, but always use interesting imagery and devices which prevent these topics from feeling stale.
For such a fun record, one may expect that a downtempo ballad may not play in the band’s favor, but penultimate track “I’m Gonna Shoot” manages to fit this very mold while simultaneously being the highlight of the album. A heartfelt confession of love, the song hardly treads new territory, but lines such as “I don’t think you know what it means that you come to every show” link these feelings to the overall self-awareness of Olde Pine once again. At 5:41, it’s the longest track on the album and manages to cover the most territory, opening with a repetition of plucked acoustic strings that is joined by earnest vocals and strummed chords. Seamless transitions bridge the song’s well-crafted passages before the guitars slowly end the song with jaunty, lazy riffs and bring us back down to earth for raucous, breezy closer “Why Not Piss Outside?”
Despite not being a household name, Olde Pine have managed to craft a record that manages to be massively more than the sum of its parts. While only diverging from its peers, The Jawnz has the feeling of a classic record in a way that makes you feel nostalgic over songs you’ve never heard before. At the risk of sounding cliché, it’s a summer record done absolutely right. With such a positive and enjoyable first full-length output, Olde Pine have the potential to be more than just a cult favorite among the twinkly emo community, they could become a staple of the genre. It’s certainly what they deserve.
Recommended tracks:
“I’m Gonna Shoot (cr-Emo)”
“Buy A Pound, Smoke A Pound”
“Mr. Pavo’s Jackhammer Tricks”
