In The Pines

Hailing from Cincinnati, In The Pines are a psychedelic group featuring Michael Shular, Charlie Horn (both on guitars/vocals) and Alex Dungan (drums/vocals). Painting By Numbers is their first album to feature the group's most recent member Peter Foley on synthesisers.

Fun fact: The album was produced by the band and recorded in two sessions throughout July 2021 and March 2022.

I’ll begin by saying that this album is far more complex than I originally thought. Shoegaze isn’t naturally as varied as this and, from their opening track, I was captivated. “Threshold”, featuring guest vocalist Eva Patterson, begins our journey through this album gently and unassuming. Moments later, the band sweeps you up and carries you away into a dramatic and euphoric Mogwai style build-up. This album meticulously layers saccharine, philosophical vocals with heady guitar tones, steadfast yet varied bass lines, and powerful drums that frequently build into a shimmering wash of synthesisers. With some folksy Americana and melancholic notes heard on “Weeping Willow”, “Wheels” and the title-track “Painting By Numbers”. One of my clear favourites has to be “Liquid Cure” – the perfect encapsulation of longing and lost.

“Speaking in Tongues” and “Let it Slide” both play like grungy Bombay Bicycle Club meets Stone Roses. “Horizon” is heavier still, which should appeal to fans of Brian Jonestown Massacre and Black Mountain and “Birth Cult” is just downright haunting. The album closes with the dreamy “Rewind” and an effervescent bonus track. Lyrically, each song on Painting By Numbers is searching and introspective, at times evoking religious imagery and frequently expressing a restless but determined sense of motion. The album is spiritual, intoxicating, reflective, catchy, and surely In The Pines’ most nuanced work to date.

Tracklist:
1. Threshold
2. Speaking In Tongues
3. Weeping Willow
4. Horizon
5. Birth Cult
6. Let It Slide
7. Wheels
8. Painting By Numbers
9. Liquid Cure
10. Rewind