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Chicago multi-instrumentalist Nick Levineâs solo debut will feel familiar to Pinegrove fans but struggles to expand on the bandâs formula.
When Nick Levine released 2017âs
Karaoke EP, the first project under their alter ego Jodi, the Chicago multi-instrumentalist had already spent five years in the background of indie rock. An on-and-off guitarist for Pinegrove since their
Meridian days, Levine provided the marvelous pedal steel duet with Evan Stephens Hallâs vocals on âLight Onâ and the composed banjo that buoyed the surface of âNew Friends.â
Karaoke was a lush, introspective six-song trip, pairing Levineâs reticent lyricism with the bedroom acoustic licks of past Pinegrove projects. Conceptualized at a cabin in the Catskills and recorded at Lazybones Audio in Silsbee, Texas, their follow-up,
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Ground Aswim begins as a mystery that demands Caleb Cordesâ full attention, and his bandmates respond in kind; if they played any quieter than they do on âWhere Did You Go?â Sinai Vessel couldnât be called a rock band anymore. Thereâs a shellshocked quality to Cordesâ voiceâlike heâs survived either an apocalyptic event or a terrible hangoverâas he walks the barren streets of a small town where people never just up and leave. A few memories emerge: an abandoned pair of yellow flip-flops in the middle of the road, an empty classroom chair. When he reaches a dead end, the drums drop out as he mutters the songâs title in private prayer. Itâs a moment typically described as a âgut punch,â though heâs the one on the receiving end. Sinai Vessel are only interested in the epiphanies that sneak up on you throughout