In 2022 at the Porto edition of Primavera, on the hilltop watching Karate cherry-pick from their esteemed body of work confirmed just how blues-laden slowcore was tailor-made for sunsets.
It was a beautiful moment, and one that I instantly thought of when hearing The Pines of Rome’s excellent new LP, When You Are as Full as the Moon. Beautifully contemplative and possessing a similar gravitational pull, the Providence, RI four-piece – Matthew Derby (vocals / guitar), John Kolodij (guitar) Steven Kimura (bass) and Rick Prior (drums) – return for the second time this decade after their wonderful 2023 release, The Unstruck Bell. (The band’s first in 20 years.)
When You Are as Full as the Moon is every bit its predecessor’s equal. Derby’s songwriting, lifting these songs off the floor and launching this band into orbits only they occupy. His direct observations, reaching the kind of emotional depths indicative of one’s bumps and scrapes throughout life.
There’s an honesty to The Pines of Rome’s songs. An unvarnished aesthetic and vision that is always real, enhanced by Seth Manchester who once again is enlisted by the band to weave his magic from behind the studio glass.
Manchester’s influence is almost like an auxiliary fifth member of the band, and it’s evident from the off with New Zealand. Aptly, The Pines of Rome pay homage to the Dunedin sound, as the protagonist tries to resolve their past by escaping to the ends of the earth. (“It’s a curse /The way the past works / It’s gets worse / The more you try to pull away.”)
The Pines of Rome - When You Are as Full as the MoonThe residue leaks into Kali’s Tongue where echoes of Codeine and Bedhead are a backdrop for Derby’s Swiss army-knife wordplay (“It’s a miracle how we survived / Given how our innocence died”). And anchored by Prior’s drumming heft, it’s ultimately slowcore for stadiums.
On Holler Gold, the band retreats into homelier climes. With pedal steel woven through the tapestry, it’s a chiming nightscape where light shines into every corner of the room. Meanwhile, Brass Knuckles sees Derby with a love song reversed engineered through the decay of modern times. Juxtaposing the past and present and how technology has eroded our physical interactions, sonically, it reaches a crescendo with sky-bound tremolo.
The cut and thrust of Last Leaf Left sees Derby dispensing more prose-like gold, including timely nod to Edith Frost. Both artists, stoic as their worlds edge closer together. It’s a contrast to Pawns. The kind of song that fills lonely places with hope. Derby’s voice, so high up in the mix that in all its naked intimacy, it feels like a song exclusively designed for your ears only.
Pawns is one of the best songs The Pines of Rome have written, and it’s almost outdone by Bad Timing. Another song sunken in gloom, as Derby’s latest character reflects deeply on life. With a line like, “When all the answers are questions,” it’s one several lightning bolts from the storm clouds as Derby and Kolodij smash slowcore into Ragged Glory-era Neil Young.
It’s a raw energy that Manchester captures like few others can. A preservation of those lightning-in-a-bottle moments that overpower everything else around you. Such as the subjects The Pines of Rome are dealing with, it’s this attention to detail that their songs command. And on When You Are as Full as the Moon, they may have reached the apex, reaffirming their return as one of most crucial of this decade.
When You Are as Full as the Moon is out now via Solid Brass Records. Purchase from Bandcamp.
