Pinkwash

Pinkwash emerged from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as a guitar-and-drums duo that merges the exacting structures of math rock, the crushing force of metal, and the sharp fury of punk. Joey Doubek, who handles vocals and guitar, first connected with drummer Ashley Arnwine through the Washington, D.C. punk and indie community during the 2000s. Their initial collaboration took shape in the two-piece outfit Ingrid, and both also spent time in Mass Movement of the Moth. While Ingrid was still active, Doubek’s mother received a cancer diagnosis, prompting him to serve as her main caregiver throughout her extended, difficult illness. Arnwine departed Ingrid in 2008 and relocated to Philadelphia, where she later joined Waxahatchee. Doubek followed her to the city several years afterward, motivated in part by a desire to resume musical work with his former bandmate. The pair established a soundproofed rehearsal room that allowed them to practice at will, leading them to form Pinkwash in 2014. The group’s name references “pinkwashing,” the term for corporations that exploit breast-cancer awareness campaigns to market products. Pinkwash quickly gained notice within the Philadelphia and D.C. punk communities, issuing the five-track cassette EP Your Cure Your Soil in June 2014. The 2015 single “Cancer Money” b/w “Skin” further underscored the political and social concerns embedded in the band’s name; its A-side incorporated a recording of the breathing apparatus used by Doubek’s mother. Growing attention led the group to sign with Don Giovanni Records, the respected New York punk imprint, which issued Pinkwash’s debut full-length album, Collective Sigh, in May 2016.