Pink Mexico– Mirrorhead

It’s been a minute since we’ve heard a full release from NYC’s Pink Mexico, but like most truly good things, it was worth the wait. We here at Full Time Aesthetic have been following all the noise trailing the band leading up to its release including the music video for the self-unassured “Dungeonhead” (which we premiered on FTA back in April), and follow up singles “Shame” and “Victimhead.”

For those familiar with Pink Mexico over the years, you may notice this is a slightly new direction for the band. Right away in “Hot Air” you can just feel the record opens up way more space in which the sound to exist. Written and performed almost entirely by frontman Robert Preston Collum, there’s a sleepy element here that works wonderfully with their heavy components that are still present, but buried just below the surface.  A lot of the record deals with regret and fear, touching upon the absurdities of existence. Collum told New Noise Magazine in their track by track breakdown of the album, “I was in the process of dealing with, or actually finding excuses for some new realities in my life. Progressively ignoring the slow closing jaws of dependency, the fear of failure and the desire to continue on, all of which are overarching themes throughout Mirrorhead.”

Robert Preston Collum of Pink Mexico (photo by Arvelisse Ruby Bonilla Ramos)

My favorite parts here are the less obvious moments. For instance, “Muring Calm” pulls its sound in a little tighter, creating underlying tension against a loaded backdrop of smiles and contentment. “Fuck It I Quit” has such extremely satisfying melody splayed over the relatable feeling of complete and utter despair. Nowhere on Mirrorhead do you find an air of pretense. It’s just straight damn human condition, and that’s what makes this record so damn good. It simply touches upon what it feels like to be a person here on this planet, all wrapped up in a deep fuzzy hug that feels somehow reminiscent of both Smashing Pumpkins and Dandy Warhols but at the same time neither. But it’s that final track “Feeling Normal” where it sounds like the band literally dug out the ground from underneath them and somehow made the sky even go even higher. Mirrorhead feels so much bigger than space it occupies and yet hits like a bullet to your heart in an empty room.

Mirrorhead is out now via Quiet Panic Records and available on Bandcamp and all major streamers.