From Rocking Horse Studio in New Hampshire, USA, the songwriting and performing collective, Rocking Horse Music Club return for their fourth studio album, The Last Pink Glow, a work inspired by the unfinished Jack Kerouac novella, The Haunted Life, a coming of age set in Lowell, Massachusetts in the summer of 1941, telling the story of a bright and restless university student named Peter Martin, his family, and his friends, as they all try to adapt to the economic, social, and political changes swirling around them at the onset of the Second World War. Essentially, a story about the end of innocence.
I have said before that I am extremely blessed to be sent music from around the world to add a few words and to support independent artists in their quest, their labour of love, to bring intelligent, emotional, quality music to the world, and, thus, enrich our lives. The Last Pink Glow is not merely an essential purchase for 2025, it is, in this writer’s opinion, one of the essential works of the 21st century, something which screams special at you.
It has everything. Symphonic rock, Americana, Baroque pop, blues, jazz fusion, all wrapped up in a loving fashion. This 2025 lineup features leading light Brian Coombes on keys & Vocals; Justin Cohn vocals & guitar; Brenden Harisiades bass; Myron Kibbee guitars; Mike McAdam guitars; Andrew Rotunno guitars & vocals with Eric Wagley on drums.
There is also a rather special guest, one Anthony Banks esq., who some of you may have heard of from his musical contributions post-Charterhouse. He co-wrote and performs on The Haunted Life, dedicated to the late Richard MacPhail, which I played on my Progzilla Radio show recently, but let me be clear here. As good, as welcome, as recognisable as Tony’s contribution is, this fine album more than stands up on its own merits as a modern masterpiece. Let’s discuss it after looking at the video describing the making of the album.
We open with Haunted, and the start sets the scene perfectly, a real sense of anticipation in the sparse guitar notes, and then the vocals hit you, Justin Cohn absolutely pitch perfect in terms of emotion in a man haunted by what has passed and, particularly, the impending conflict, something which, thankfully, very few of us have had to witness, the disfigurement of the mind, the immense change to the psyche from the horrors witnessed. There are some incredible riffs on this track, an operatic delight.
It's the Small Things (it’s not the journey, it’s the outline of plans), the outline of a life to come, a hundred of them in a young man, because all young men have an unconscious immortality bias, but these all point in the wrong direction. There is a nice jazz fusion vibe to this, some of it quite funky, and I really like Michelle Coombes contribution on backing vocal harmonies, with Wes Thurber providing us with a thoughtful trumpet solo, and there are some nice complex guitar licks in here.
I mentioned before The Haunted Life featuring Mr Banks, and it is embedded below for you. Banks is, naturally, instantly recognisable. The song addresses leaving behind the carefree days of youth – indeed, one could very rationally argue that, alongside the loss of life, the stripping away of innocence with young men exposed to the most brutal of acts, is the worst aspect of war. Summer has arrived in Massachusetts, but the world outside is exploding. When I played this at my good friend Caron’s house the other day, he remarked that he heard Echolyn as a strong influence in this. The vocals really are to die for, the guitars of Myron Kibbee accompany Banks with panache, some really strong work from him on this in a track which perfectly puts across the end of a passage in life, and the (haunted) prospect of the next.
If We’re Silent and We Listen follows, comrades, so many of them, dying in the night, even those who do wake up. This seems to me a natural follow up to the previous track, in that the keyboards are reminiscent of Tony Banks’s solo work to these ears. Bubbling under the surface are some fierce riffs, though initially understated, building to a crescendo as the battle roars on, some magnificent harmonies, and a supreme classic rock sensibility to proceedings combining with strings in a symphonic burst of noise.
The Ballad of Joe Martin, the father, and a nasty piece of work. He is raging like a lion around the house, a chip on his shoulder. The short track is pure Americana, a joyous noise to those students of the finest of American roots music, slide guitar, baritone guitar, mandolin from Kibbee taking the rhythm lead, Cohn sounding to me akin to a severely emotional Don McLean, the feelings evident, added to by the strings pulling at your heart.
Changing Channels is an introspective number, with the protagonist wondering whether he will grow up in a dead-end life with a dead-end wife, and no chance to better himself. Musically, it is, though, brighter than that descriptor sounds, Cohn reaching some lovely high notes, and in particular, Eric Wagley putting in a strong shift on the drums, and a nice guitar solo halfway in, as we move to the close, Coombes again providing us with that rich Banks influenced set of notes. This has the sound of a potential single.
The second Ballad, that of Wesley Martin, follows. It refers to Peter’s brother, who never returned home and haunts him. The voice is wistful, full of regret, and this is encapsulated musically by the slide guitar running up to the living, and then fading away, never really recognisable, the pace of the track kept nicely by drums and piano, and Simon White provides us with a playful burst on the clarinet before we get some beautifully delicate fretwork on the lead in to the end.
Splitting Atoms again seems to reference a sibling or perhaps friend walking away to escape the drudgery of rural life. The track is shy of eight minutes, and Coombes sets the scene with a mellotron, using that lovely old warhorse to strong effect. As we progress, we get a strong symphonic progressive rock track, the synths rising and whirling across the speakers, Hammond & mellotron in sync with a soundscape putting across the anger of the leaving, the betrayal, a strong guitar solo adding to this. This track will strongly appeal to fans of bands such as Arena, Pendragon, so those acts with a strong symphonic bent to their music. As we close, the female screams come to the fore.
Restless Wanderers is a short burst of energy, the only words those of the title, and I do like Andrew Rotunno’s guitar solo before Simon White draws us in with a suitably energetic alto sax.
Big City Small Town Blues is the penultimate track. Not exactly a barrel of laughs lyrically, referencing the fact that if the small town doesn’t kill them, then the city will, and if the city doesn’t, then the war will. There is trauma here, for sure, and it is a perfect dirty blues song, the type you might hear in a smoke-filled New Orleans bar drawing late into the night, the drink and regret complementing each other perfectly.
We close with the title track, and we have another video to share with you, embedded below. It is an epic-length track to close this wonderful work. The last pink glow of dusk fades on a haunted life. These are the opening lyrics, and the words here taken from the writer are so evocative. War has made past lives fade into dusty death. There is some magnificent 12-string acoustic guitar work on this, Brenden Harisiades and Eric Wagley provide for a rock-solid rhythm section, the vocals sear with emotion, haunted if you will pardon the pun, and you notice again just how strong the female voices add to the overall atmosphere, and there is some real anger included, raging against the world which pitted young men in such a cauldron, guitars screaming in sympathy. This is a collective at the top of their game.
This has been a long review. As is my wont, I have tried to bring to you a dissection of individual tracks, and how they sit within the work as a whole, but there is one thought I have I would like to close with: this is not the type of album which should be part of some desultory digital playlist. It is something which needs to be played from start to finish in one sitting, allowing the moods and emotions to wash over you.
To get the album, pop along for details to https://brian-coombes.squarespace.com/ You will not regret it, a seriously important and supreme album.