The Pink Stones

Athens outfit The Pink Stones launched into view with a barroom-born country that was bound to haunt a jukebox or two for years to come. They refine that reputation on their sophomore album, an LP full of heartbreak, humor, whiskey and wine. The band’s sound effortlessly endears itself to lovers of golden-era country favorites like George and Tammy, Gram and Emmylou, Loretta Lynn, and Buck Owens. Last time out, there was a more ingrained ripple of cosmic country in the mix, and while they still pull a few stems and seeds out of the Commander Cody school throughout You Know Who, the band plays it a bit straighter on the record. This time the focus falls more on the bruised and battered pool hall ballads — the will they/won’t they of “Baby I’m Still (Right Here With You,” the bar rag romp of “Where We Have To Say,” and the winking, “Who’s Laughing Now.”

The record also darkens the door of heartbreak more often than the last, pulling up an empty bottle of regrets on “Without You, With You,” and “Someone You Can’t Move.” They work well on both ends of the pour, though. Heart full and hummin’ or with the wolf of woe barking at their door, The Pink Stones thread yarns like seasoned vets. The record finds The Pink Stones coming into their own, cutting out the fat and wiping the haze from their eyes. The band returns to a bit of their cosmic past with an ode to solo smoke that rolls in its own dose of heartbreak on the way out the door, stringing a bridge from Introducing… to You Know Who, but the record doesn’t spend too much time wading through the weeds. The LP is the band at their best. Over the dozen tracks here there are more than a few that will haunt speakers on repeat for the remainder of 2023 and likely far beyond.

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