There’s an easily understood message inside of “Eating the Egg Whole,” the second song on ’s fifth album: “Sometimes a dream ain’t meant to be lived in, it’s meant to be forgotten.” Impermanence is a fact of life—holding onto something fleeting usually isn’t healthy. Pretty universal message.
You might miss this kernel of wisdom, though, as frontman John Ross spends the rest of the song wrapping it in flashy sports metaphors. He lays out Michael Jordan’s late-career arc, from the 1997 offseason to his 2003 retirement, each bookend pegged to one specific detail (an iconic beret, “freedom fries”) and one sports franchise shakeup (the Washington Bullets becoming the Wizards, the Montreal Expos becoming the Washington Nationals). After a few listens, the connection to the “nothing’s forever” theme becomes clearer, but Ross’ choice of evidence remains uncharacteristically idiosyncratic.
This is Wild Pink’s most driving, propulsive album, but I have no idea what it’s about. Within the first seconds of opener “The Fences of Stonehenge,” Ross finds a meaty, full-bodied guitar sound that he likes, and he barely tweaks a knob over the next 38 minutes. A Wild Pink album hasn’t had this level of consistency since 2018’s breakout .
2022’s was particularly eclectic, darting between knotty folk-rock, electro-pop, and doomgaze, held together by a unifying focus on Ross’ recent cancer diagnosis. is the exact opposite: straight down the middle,.
