{"id":100030,"date":"2025-08-28T21:13:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T20:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/?p=100030"},"modified":"2025-08-28T21:13:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T20:13:26","slug":"review-pinkshift-earthkeeper","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alreadyheard.com\/staging\/review-pinkshift-earthkeeper\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Pinkshift &#8211; Earthkeeper"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When the Baltimore group <strong>Pinkshift<\/strong> emerged with their 2022 debut album,\u00a0<em>&#8216;Love Me Forever,&#8217;<\/em> they were tarnished with the pop-punk brush. Although if you dug deeper, you&#8217;d hear alt-rock, emo, and grunge on it. Nonetheless, its follow-up,\u00a0<em>&#8216;Earthkeeper,&#8217;<\/em> is sure to surprise some. For the most part, they&#8217;ve grown as musicians and as songwriters. The trio of vocalist Ashrita Kumar (they\/them), guitarist Paul Vallejo (he\/him) and drummer Myron Houngbedji (he\/him) have somewhat tossed aside what&#8217;s expected and delivered a collection of personal songs with musical depth.<\/p>\n<p>From the outset, there is a grittiness as Kumar rages with <em>&#8220;fuck your guns and fuck your violence, while we all bleed and you stay silent&#8221; <\/em>on the punk-fueled opener, &#8216;<em>Love It Here&#8217;<\/em><em>.\u00a0<\/em>It&#8217;s followed by\u00a0<em>&#8216;Anita Ride&#8217;<\/em>s sturdy groove and desperate screams to escape and <em>&#8220;to feel alive&#8221;<\/em>.\u00a0<em>&#8216;Evil Eye&#8217;<\/em> maintains the intensity, anchoring down with (nu-)metal riffs, wrapping themselves around a punchy chorus.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;Earthkeeper&#8217;<\/em> is far from the rage-filled journey its opening trio of songs hints at. Take <em>&#8216;Patience&#8217;<\/em> for example. Kumar&#8217;s gorgeous, clean vocals shine against a rock ballad-esque backdrop. While the pairing of\u00a0<em>&#8216;Blood&#8217;<\/em> and\u00a0<em>&#8216; Spiritseeker&#8217;<\/em> allows those previous nu-metal tones to return, yet <strong>Pinkshift<\/strong> aren&#8217;t yearning for nostalgia. On the latter, Kumar sings about how corruption has led to environmental destruction. Backed by Vallejo&#8217;s fiery guitar solo, it&#8217;s considerably the closest they come to delivering a &#8220;radio rock&#8221; hit. Whereas,\u00a0<em>&#8216;Freefall&#8217;\u00a0<\/em>is a zesty throwback to their pop-punk roots, allowing Houngbedji to impress on drums.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Pinkshift - Anita Ride\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Syilm7vywBU?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>As\u00a0<em>&#8216;Earthkeeper&#8217;<\/em> reaches its final run of songs, lyrical elements of loss, gratitude, and self-discovery are put to the forefront.\u00a0<em>&#8216;Suspended&#8217;<\/em> sees the trio venture into atmospheric metal territory, akin to Deftones and Loathe. The risk pays off thanks to Kumar&#8217;s smooth, soaring voice.\u00a0 It&#8217;s complemented by words of comfort on <em>&#8216;Reflection&#8217;<\/em>. Its plucky intro segues into a wall of guitars, and another impressive solo from Vallejo. The optimism continues on the album finale, <em>&#8216;Something More&#8217;<\/em>. Ringing guitars and comforting harmonies are backed by a strong rhythm section, as Kumar sings words of hope.<\/p>\n<p>At times, you wonder if\u00a0<strong>Pinkshift<\/strong> are going through a musical identity crisis. However, beyond the occasional forays into alt-rock, pop-punk, and nu-metal serve the trio well, and aren&#8217;t entirely jarring. It&#8217;s merely them continuing their natural growth as a band. Likewise, the themes Kumar and company touch upon match this.\u00a0<em>&#8216;Earthkeeper&#8217;<\/em> is pinned down by a narrative that oscillates between raging defiance, spiritual refuge, and socio-political angst. It allows them to be even more ambitious next time around. On this showing, <strong>Pinkshift<\/strong> are a band in transition. Besides a few minor issues, their potential continues to grow.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8216;Earthkeeper&#8217;<\/em> by\u00a0<strong>Pinkshift<\/strong> is released on 29th August on <strong>Hopeless Records<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Find\u00a0<strong>Pinkshift\u00a0<\/strong>on: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pinkshiftmd\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Facebook<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/pinkshiftmd\">X (Formerly Twitter)<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/pinkshiftmd\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Instagram<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/pinkshiftmd.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BlueSky<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/artist\/3bfSaJqEYosPcdoCN06G3P?si=PNrZzmuAQp6C2L68yfPqRw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Spotify<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/music.apple.com\/gb\/artist\/pinkshift\/1475032506\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Apple Music<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/pinkshift.bandcamp.com\/album\/earthkeeper\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bandcamp<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pinkshiftmd.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Website<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On their second album, the Baltimore trio evolve with raging defiance, spiritual refuge, and socio-political angst.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":99299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[17794],"class_list":["post-100030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-album-reviews","tag-pinkshift"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - 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