from Hand Carved by Michael Buchmiller

Pinback - Blue Screen Life

Rob Crow's discography is about a mile long. He has been a long-standing pillar of San Diego's music scene. Some of the more influential bands he has been apart of include Heavy Vegetable, Thingy, Optiganally Yours, and Physics, but that's not even the half of it. And out of all of his projects, Pinback is easily my favorite. Maybe it's because he teamed up with Armistead Burwell Smith IV (i.e. Zach) from Three Mile Pilot. Or maybe it's because this is the most complex, most melodically intricate, and most beautifully written material he's released to date.

Pinback has been around since 1998, and "Blue Screen Life" is their second full length release. Pinback's sound is mellow, but not too mellow. It's experimental, but still very accessible. It's a sound that is built on layers and layers of instrumentation. They've got bright guitars, accordions, vibraphones, and keyboards, which are all driven by a hypnotic rhythm that is at times augmented by sampled-beats or hand claps. The vocals are very softly sung and spoken, in Crow's unmistakable falsetto voice which harmonizes seamlessly with Zach's. With all of the elements at work, you have no choice but to listen to their quirky, dreamy pop songs over and over to hear everything that's going on. It's a task that I gladly accepted.

There are tons of great songs on this album. Some of the highlights include "Concrete Seconds," "Boo," and "Bbtone," but "Penelope" is definitely my favorite if I had to pick just one. The other songs mentioned don't fall too far behind.

If you are already a fan of any of Rob Crow's other work, you are going to love this record. If you are new to his work, this is the place to start. This album is the soundtrack to my daydreams.