Sunshine and Balance Beams
By: Sadie Dupuis

Sunshine and Balance Beams, Pile’s ninth album, alchemizes metaphors with its title. The first: finding happiness in nature and oneself. Second: the woozy posture one must strike to stay afloat in commercial society. These concepts seem antithetical—“But they might actually be the same thing,” hints guitarist, songwriter and singer Rick Maguire. On its newest record, Pile weaves a Sisyphean fable concerned with labor and living. “The fulfillment I receive from pursuing art has been a guiding force for me,” says Maguire. “But it can be damaging when that pursuit teases capitalist expectations of where you might be able to go, and then doesn’t square with the reality that follows.” Pile presents this parable with jagged guitars, sputtering drum bombast, eerie synths and aqueous strings, with panoramic production and loud-quiet dynamism matching the emotionality of the band’s thunderous performances.

Pile formed in 2007 as Maguire’s solo outlet, soon joined by time-warping drummer Kris Kuss(in 2009) and fuzzed-yet-melodic bassist Matt Connery (in 2010), among other friends; with its explosively intricate take on heavy music, the band found devoted fans amid Boston’s bustling punk scene. Since then, Pile’s released eight acclaimed albums, each showcasing different facets of its members’ talents. Dripping, the post-hardcore 2012 breakthrough, encapsulated the frenetic power of epic basement gigs. 2017’s A Hair shirt of Purpose twisted Pile’s angularities for greater clarity, incorporating strings without losing menace. Connery’s temporary departure after this record brought respected engineer and peer Alex Molini in on bass; the electronic experimentalism ofAll Fiction(2023) deepened the production relationship between Maguire and Molini, proving the band’s exploratory commitment as lifelong. That doesn’t scratch Pile’s dozen other releases, including B-side compilations, outtake EPs, demo cassettes, and livereworkings. They’ve earned a reputation as workhorses, crafting thought-provoking riffs while maintaining a tour schedule of international headlining, festival slots, and support for legendary and like minded artists like Jesus Lizard and Cursive.

Their accomplishments are numerous, but the bandmates’ lives extend outside the tour van.“I’ve had to do a lot of unlearning when it comes to the ego-trap of capitalism,” admits Maguire.“Money and recognition are helpful tools, but the pursuit of those things for their own sake is somebody else’s idea.” And so Sunshine and Balance Beams drew influence from rejecting expectations. “A lot of the story came through trying to enjoy my life—connecting with people and animals, experiencing the world through art, being in nature, cooking food, exercising, talking about ideas.”