2004.10.14 - The Daily Free Press - by Lara Farrar

Pinback

Pinback takes success in comic stride

When I called Rob Crow's cell phone at 10 p.m. on a Thursday night to interview him for this article, he was at his San Diego home reading comic books and, retrospectively, I think I'm secretly happy he was.

"We are nice guys," Crow said. "That would be the number one thing I would like people to take home. We don't have a rock star attitude like 'Check out my band, I am so cool. I wear sunglasses indoors, or check out my clothes.' We are way too busy just trying to play our instruments right to worry about any other stuff."

Crow and Armistead Burwell Smith IV (a.k.a. Zach) make Pinback, a musical coalition worthy of its own electronic indie-pop sub-categorization.

Their music elucidates unparalleled beauty with peeking guitars, intricate bass and whispery, whimsical vocals. The occasional beats are catchy but too intelligent for mainstream radio. Harmonies invoke chills, and the often sporadic, non-sequential lyrics create a body of emotion completely subject to listener interpretation.

Pinback, a name derived from the sci-fi classic Dark Star, began in 1998 as a part-time endeavor when Smith's band, 3 Mile Pilot, went on a sabbatical and Crow took a break from his bands Heavy Vegetable and Thingy. In 1999, Pinback released their first self-titled, full-length album followed by the 2001 release, Blue Screen Life. Their latest release, Summer in Abaddon, adds another volume to Pinback's masterpiece of sound.

"We do what we do and we keep doing it," Crow said about the new album. "We keep trying to think of new ways to go about things, and new ways to make music and make interesting sounds and try not to look back or look forward. Only be in the present."

Partially recorded in Crow's bedroom, Summer in Abaddon is reminiscent of a science experiment between unknown chemicals yielding unexpected musical chaos that seamlessly and effortlessly falls into place.

Summer in Abaddon also includes the poignant "Syracuse," which begins with simplistic strings and isolating lyrics. Intensity arrives and drives the song into a precipice of sound, retrograded by calming interludes.