2004.11.18 - The Martlet - by Kristin Evans

Pinback

Anything I say to you is gonna come out wrong anyway...

Up front, I really like Pinback. I’ve liked them for more than a hamster’s age. Maybe even a well-supervised hamster’s age. The chance to interview Rob Crow, half of the Pinback core, (the other half being Armistead Burwell Smith IV, a.k.a. Zach) was too exciting. Pinback for my first phone interview! What do you mean “call him on his cell?” Like a young Home Improvement fan given Jonathan Taylor Thomas’s phone number, I was overwhelmed. This interview would have to be good.

As the title of the article may allude to, (other than a Pinback lyric from “Concrete Seconds,” you cheeky fans) I fumbled through the interview. Thankfully, Rob was a great guy to talk to, regardless. They were just leaving Fayetteville, Arkansas, when I reached him. Rob described the previous night’s show there as “Fun . . . good times.”

Pinback has the kind of history that gives some modern musical purists hope for the future. Zach and Rob had both been active members of the San Diego music scene in the mid ’90s. Zach was in 3 Mile Pilot (whose other members went on to form Black Heart Procession), and Rob played in Thingy, Heavy Vegetable, Snotnose, Fantasy Mission Force, and Optigonally Yours (phew!). Zach and Rob initially met through playing shows in and around San Diego, and they eventually ended up hanging out in the same circles, at the same houses. Here’s the beauty: their bond was solidified over a mutual love of video games and sci-fi.

Both had time off from their respective musical commitments, and decided “Hey let’s try to do something,” as Rob put it. This “something” recorded, engineered and mixed their debut album in Zach’s bedroom. Between the two of them, they created multi-layered, intricate “indie-pop” that has remained a Pinback trademark.

Their first, self-titled album came out in ’99 to unexpectedly wide acclaim. Their second bedroom-recorded album, Blue Screen Life, was released in 2001. Again, this new Pinback CD was widely praised within critics’ circles. This year marked the release of their third full-length album, Summer In Abaddon, which, you guessed it, ended up being a well-received new chapter in the Pinback saga.

I could go into the same descriptive dead-ends that other people have tried to pursue with respect to the “Pinback sound.” I choose, instead, to suggest that Pinback’s music may be the quintessential accompaniment to a thought-filled drive on a crisp fall day. With respect to the various characterizations of their aural esthetic, Rob tells me their music is intended to be “totally open to interpretation—there’s no real wrong answer.”

The end of the conversation with Rob went like this: I thanked him for being wonderfully understanding of my rookie interviewer status, and he replied with “Oh, no, it’s alright. Nothing to be . . . You tried. Congratulations! (laughs).” At least I got laughed with by Rob Crow of Pinback, rather than laughed at.