Pinegrove

Pinegrove is an American indie rock group from Montclair, New Jersey, active since 2010. The lineup changes over time, but the core of the band centres on singer-songwriter Evan Stephens Hall and drummer Zack Levine, who meet as children and play in several bands before forming Pinegrove. The current membership includes Adan Carlo Feliciano, Nandi Rose Plunkett, Nick Levine, Zack Levine, Sam Skinner, Josh Marré, Megan Benavente and Evan Stephens Hall.

Sound and style

The band’s music combines indie rock with alternative folk, alternative rock, experimental rock and roots rock, and it is also associated with alt-country, emo, midwest emo, math rock and Americana. Their arrangements use instruments beyond a standard guitar, bass and drums setup, including banjo and pedal steel guitar. Pinegrove’s sound is often described as a blend of alt-country and emo, and Hall has described the group as sitting between math rock and Americana. Hall also refers to the band as “language-arts rock”.

Their lyrics are noted for being literary, direct and emotionally open. Hall has said the group aims to look outward rather than inward. The band’s name comes from a line of pine trees on a nature reserve at Kenyon College, where Hall studies.

Career

Pinegrove begins by self-releasing early music and playing DIY house shows. Their debut album is Meridian. After signing to the independent label Run for Cover, they issue the compilation Everything So Far, which gathers material from their early period.

Their second studio album, Cardinal, becomes a breakthrough release and appears on many critics’ end-of-year lists. The success of that record helps place the band among the so-called emo revival acts. Pinegrove then records Skylight, takes a hiatus after Hall is accused of sexual coercion by a person he tours with, and later releases the album independently in 2018. The band follows with sold-out tours.

Pinegrove later signs to Rough Trade, a British label, for Marigold and 11:11.

Audience, imagery and related associations

The band has a loyal following known as “Pinenuts”. Their artwork and merchandise often use square shapes and the ampersand symbol. Pinegrove is also associated with progressive causes and makes charitable contributions to civil rights organisations.

They tour with acts linked to emo, including The World Is a Beautiful Place & I Am No Longer Afraid to Die. Their work is compared with artists such as The Weakerthans, Wilco, Built to Spill, Gillian Welch and early Death Cab for Cutie. Hall names My Morning Jacket and Bon Iver among the band’s direct influences, and an early account of the group links his and Zack Levine’s enthusiasm for My Morning Jacket’s Okonokos to the start of their music careers. Hall also cites Stephen Steinbrink and Phil Elverum, along with writers George Saunders, William Faulkner and Virginia Woolf, as influences on his songwriting.