Upon booting up Pinkshift’s Earthkeeper, you’re immediately greeted by the sort of heavy, grunting, down-to-the-ground riff that might make you recoil in shock. Like, isn’t this, ostensibly, supposed to be a pop-punk band?!
Well, that word ‘ostensibly’ is doing some back-breakingly heavy lifting here. Pinkshift may have been grouped among pop-punk towards the start of the decade, but as the band themselves would presumably attest, it wasn’t a tag that fit them comfortably, even then. Their debut Love Me Forever owed more to alt-rock, emo and even grunge and ‘proper’ punk, a road which has only diverged even further now for Earthkeeper. If there were any inclinations to dub Pinkshift ‘purely pop-punk’, they’re more nonsensical now than ever. Hell, the first inkling of anything close to that sound isn’t until Freefall, eight tracks in.
Guitarist Paul Vallejo has cited his and drummer Myron Houngbedj’s love of Knocked Loose and Loathe as an influence here, and while hardcore acts as a more peripheral presence, the soft-to-hard dynamism of alt-metal certainly has its place. On Suspended and Reflection, it offers the perfect opportunity to explode into a heavy, grungy torrent, while Patience and Spiritseeker affix Pinkshift’s own emo to coax out its more anthemic side. There’s also Don’t Fight, perhaps the most obvious parallel to Loathe as Vallejo takes the lead for a shoegaze-esque vocal over a fluid, fill-all-space-as-much-as-possible metal backdrop.
That’s the new side of Earthkeeper that Pinkshift have acclimated to the best, in contrast to something more outwardly fierce and punk, and the slight growing pains they’re left to power through. Most notably here is Ashrita Kumar as a singer, who sounds as though they’re still finding their feet when it comes to the harder edges of their range. The fact they’ve nailed screaming out of the gate on Love It Here and Anita Ride is a pleasant surprise. You can tell that’s not a style that’s well-broached in their usual repertoire, but they’re also ragged, purposeful and wrenched-out through necessity. Cleans, meanwhile, are a bit less good with how flatly mixed they can sometimes feel. Going back to Anita Ride and how it’s got the highest concentration of savagery in performance on the album, you really notice the gulf with how unsupported and shallow the actual singing is.
Even so, there’s a tenacity to all of this that Pinkshift cling to with absolute determination. On an album about raging against injustice and fighting tooth and nail just to survive within them, the ramshackle imperfections are almost a given. Thus, when Kumar unloads an opening salvo of “Fuck your guns and fuck your violence” on Love It Here—and a shout of “I wanna hide you safe inside my arms” later on Don’t Fight, resplendent with conviction—the power of the thrust is what matters the most. Even Blood, which might contain the most underpowered yell on the album, surges with human power.
It’s where the aforementioned hardcore element of Earthkeeper comes in, to fuel its momentum. Admittedly, it’s less obvious in places, namely the very front end whose stoic, stalwart punk is very tightly wound. Evil Eye probably embodies that the most, as muscles ripple and riffs rage while fluidity and motion takes a seat a fair few rows back. At least the danger of becoming full bricked out is avoided. Even on Evil Eye, there’s some excellent drumming from Houngbedji to pick up on, with a fairly dominating presence from him later on Spiritseeker and Blood. Vallejo naturally gets time to shine as well, between a guitar tone akin to multiple successive rockslides, and the opportunity to flex some soloing chops on Spiritseeker, Blood and Reflection.
For what turns out as a very new swerve for Pinkshift, there’s a lot that they do well on Earthkeeper. As unavoidable as its transitional state is, the feel of a dogged, powerful punk act is a proven commodity that shines through anything. In this case, slamming weight, newfound sonic palettes and an unwavering populism are no less workable for Pinkshift as where they were before. With the potential to further crystallise and even cast their net out even wider going forward, there’s plenty to be enthusiastic about in this new phase. The initial shock ultimately proves to be a very good thing indeed.
For fans of: Doll Skin, Destroy Boys, Dream Nails
‘Earthkeeper’ by Pinkshift is released on 29th August on Hopeless Records.
Words by Luke Nuttall
