Review Summary: A microburst of creativity from one of indie-rock’s best bands right now.
Wild Pink is one of those rare bands that only seems to improve with every release. From the glistening self-titled debut to the even more beautiful and fully fleshed out LPs
Yolk in the Fur and
A Billion Little Lights, we watched them grow into the best Americana/shoegaze hybrid this side of The War on Drugs. Even given their obvious upward trajectory, 2022’s
ILYSM was still a major revelation. It took the stunning, smoothed out soundscapes of its predecessors and fused them with hushed, Antlers-adjacent folk to brilliant results.
Strawberry Eraser sees them take yet another step into the huge shoes they seem destined to fill. It’s only a brief three track EP, but it’s a microburst of creativity that proves their place as one of indie-rock’s best bands of the moment. The release takes the jaw-dropping aesthetic of
ILYSM and ushers it out of its shell, resulting in a sound that is as stunning as it is bold. ‘Air Drumming Fix You’ is immediately among the best and most spellbinding things that Wild Pink has ever written, propelled by a pulsing beat with spaced-out saxophones that entangle and intertwine around Ross’ reflections: “I guess the good life / Didn't look like you thought it might.” Rocking to a countryish sway and atmospheric synths, the whole song comes together like the synthesis of all of Wild Pink’s greatest strengths: it possesses the gossamer sheen of
Yolk in the Fur, and the earthy roots of
ILSYM. ‘Unconscious Pilot’ follows suit with a moment of jazzy, hazy, and reverb-drenched bliss, while ‘Cielo Wheed’ ties the ephemeral experience together with sprawling, melodically abuzz guitars that feel dense and cutting compared to the moments that led up to it.
Even for an EP,
Strawberry Eraser is extremely brief as it clocks in at just under ten minutes. Despite its overall transience – and how ‘Unconscious Pilot’/‘Cielo Wheed’ can feel like relative afterthoughts compared to the majesty of ‘Air Drumming Fix You’ – this feels more like another stylistic proof-of-concept than anything else. It shows that Wild Pink is still firing on all cylinders, and builds anticipation for whatever full-length the band currently has in the oven. If
Strawberry Eraser is any indication of where they’re taking their music, then the best may still be yet to come for this ever-evolving group.
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