Reviews

Wild Pink – Still Coming Down

If Dulling The Horns was a rebirth for John Ross’ band, Still Coming Down is an abrupt loss of momentum.

Wild Pink’s career exists in two clear phases. Phase one runs from 2017’s self-titled debut through to 2022’s intensely personal ILYSM, on which John Ross ruminated on his cancer diagnosis. Ross reportedly considered ending Wild Pink after this, before ultimately opting for change instead of closure as he shifted gears for 2024’s revitalised Dulling The Horns—comfortably the best Wild Pink record to date.

But if this second phase began with excitement and promise, Still Coming Down represents a significant setback. The spritely hooks of Dulling The Horns have largely been replaced by a workmanlike fusion of heartland and indie rock that feels far more Asheville, North Carolina than NYC. There’s an easy explanation for this: Still Coming Down was recorded in Asheville with Wednesday producer Alex Farrar (Wednesday, Hotline TNT, Snail Mail) and input from MJ Lenderman and his backing band, The Wind.

Part of Wild Pink’s charm has been Ross’ distinctive point of view. Still Coming Down’s lyric sheet is stuffed with his usual cultural references and wry anecdotes, but its muddier mix and emphasis on big guitar textures make the words harder to distinguish at times. It’s worth noting that Farrar did a wonderful job mixing Dulling The Horns, so I don’t think this choice is entirely on him either.

Opener “Box Store” immediately sets the tone. Buzzsaw guitars and sluggish tempos dominate, as Ross details the provenance of his TV and AC unit in a half-assed drawl. A casual listener could be mistaken for thinking “Round of Applause at the End of World” is the same song, such is its tonal similarity. “Plates Keep Spinning” offers brief respite from the monotony, with its mid-’70s Neil Young guitars and pleasing pedal steel, before Still Coming Down reverts to its now familiar comfort zone on “Like Water” and “Simple.”

MJ Lenderman’s contributes a wonderfully freewheeling Neil Young-influenced solo on “Dead For A Sec,” but it’s the highlight of an otherwise modest track, before the album peters out with the grunge-y “500 Is The New 250” and lacklustre “Relaxing, Special Interests.”

Nothing on Still Coming Down is outright terrible, but taken as a whole, these nine tracks coalesce into a haze of plodding mid-tempo heartland rock that makes the thirty-three-minute runtime feel excessive. And after a record as invigorating as Dulling The Horns, that’s one hell of a comedown.

Still Coming Down is out now via Fire Talk.