Wild Pink’s “Lake Erie” is Emo Americana Bliss
What is it about heartland rock that feels everywhere these days? The gated drums of Phil Collins, the radio-worn reverb of Bruce Springsteen and cloying synths of Don Henley and Bryan Adams in the ’80s—not to mention the recent passing of Tom Petty—each instance feels like it’s coalesced into a particular moment recently, one where the clashing histories of radio-ready, big-budget studio ballads and indie rock’s countercultural roots aren’t necessarily at odds. A 2009 essay in The Wire cited Henley as inspiration for the underground “hypnogogic pop” movement, but as humming buzzwords have come and gone with the blogs that birthed them, a new generation of musicians across the rock spectrum has found something special in the blissful kitsch of the past.
Wild Pink is…