All the current crises have made the perfect time for quiet contemplation – and active exclamation. Yes, stay indoors during outbreaks, but also protest those not doing anything about the next apocalypse. New Jersey’s Pinegrove do both on 11:11.
While the album title & artwork imply a certain binary starkness, this is still the emotional Pinegrove, who inject that emotion into a country/rock mix that is both current and classic. Admittedly, one might enjoy most the few moments of happiness on 11:11, the upbeat “Alaska” and brighter “Cyclone”, but singer/songwriter Evan Stephens Hall knows his sadness. There are repeated quiet/loud crashes that mix resignation and action, such as the extended opener “Habitat” and the confessional “Respirate” – the latter of which nicely goes from singing “Never let you down” right into the following, intimate, “Now that I know that I let you down” of “Let”. And it all closes abruptly with the abrupt end of “11th Hour”, because that’s how things actually end.
You might not need another sad call to action, both political and personal, in your life right now. But if you do, turn the clock 11:11.
