Philly duo Pinkwash lets out a 'Collective Sigh' for debut album

Death is essential for Pinkwash, the West Philly punk outfit.

In 2009, vocalist and guitarist Joey Doubek lost his mother to cancer; years later, he's still dealing with grief in the form of music.

On Friday, Pinkwash, which has received accolades from Pitchfork, NPR, and the Washington Post, will release its first full-length LP, Collective Sigh. It's the culmination of many things: Loss, self-reflection, and doubt.

Doubek and drummer Ashley Arnwine first met in the Washington DIY music scene, where they collaborated in bands such as Mass Movement of the Moth and Ingrid. After a few years, Ingrid ended, and they went their separate ways. Arnwine moved to Olympia, Wash., to be with her then-girlfriend; Doubek, meanwhile, received a call that his mother had been diagnosed with breast cancer for a second time.

The call came almost exactly five years after her first diagnosis, a stretch of time usually associated with patients going into complete remission.

"It became clear very quickly that I was going to have to be the one that would have to take care of her," Doubek says.

For over a year, Doubek was his mother's primary caretaker. During that time, he took up her job a few days a week as an assistant to an art collector, helped her get to doctor appointments, and fought insurance companies when astronomical medical bills arrived at the door.

In the years following her death, Doubek struggled with the emotional aftermath, but found a coping mechanism when he re-banded with Arnwine to form Pinkwash.

The term "pinkwashing" is often associated with products claiming that portions of profits go toward cancer research, when in some cases it's more of a marketing strategy rather than an act of charity. With the frustration that mounted from his mother's sickness, it was the "emotional outlet" necessary to launch Pinkwash - loud, assaulting, and enraged.

Arnwine already was in Philadelphia, and Doubek followed. They took up a practice space in the basement of a shared group home in West Philadelphia. In 2014, they released the five-song EP Your Cure Your Soil. While that recording seemed to deal with the initial feelings of watching his mother die, Sigh focuses more on the mental aftermath. The album is a reflection of the transition between the pain of death and the looming feeling of sadness that remains.

When Doubek and Arnwine are together, they're an aggressive punk band. But when they're apart, their musical tastes are decidedly diverse. Arnwine also plays in the softer-sounding Waxahatchee. She's a former member of noise-folkers Des Ark and the indie-poppers Bleeding Rainbow. When she's not playing in bands, the carpenter is a visual artist and enjoys collaborating with other local musicians like experimental "hip-hop collage" artist Moor Mother Goddess.

"I love anything that points to the idea that you can literally do anything with music," Arnwine says. "[I think] we can change the world if we can just think differently."

Doubek admits he's been heavy listening to Kanye West's The Life of Pablo - not for the lyrics, but for the "production."

Despite the hardships they've faced and the countless bands of which they've been members, they always come back together.

"Ashley and I are very very emotional performers, because this is our outlet. This is what just makes us feel good and it is a natural extension of our selves," Doubek says. "We just feel it together."

"Collective Sigh" is out May 13 on Don Giovanni Records. Pinkwash, with Andromeda Sky, King Azaz, and Swarm, 7 p.m. Friday at Lava Space, 434 Lancaster Ave.; $5-7 (proceeds benefit Girls Rock Philly); 215-387-6155, www.lavazone.org.