Pinegrove - Everything So Far

The Guardian 60

(Run for Cover)

Somewhere between the proto-emo of the likes of the Appleseed Cast and the backwoods folk of Whitney (with a dash of Sufjan Stevens’ banjo work to sweeten the deal), lies New Jersey based outfit Pinegrove, a band who emerged from the depths of Bandcamp to appear on numerous end-of-year-lists with their 2016 album Cardinal. Capitalising on that surprise success, Run for Cover records have rereleased this compilation of the band’s early work. Everything So Far does a nice job in charting the Pinegrove’s progression into the bookish and lovelorn brand of indie rock they later perfected on Cardinal, marked out by vocalist Evan Stephens Hall’s quavering tenor and perambulating and pleasingly funny guitar lines. As with such completist compilations there’s a fair chunk of filler here, and over time its 21 songs begin to congeal into each other a shade, but as an introduction to the band’s many charms, it’s solid enough.