1 post tagged “pinback”

In this issue:  Pinback, the delicately beautiful lovechild of Armistead Burwell "Zach" Smith IV and Rob Crow.  There are lots and lots of projects under the umbrella of genius of Mr. Crow (and others, tangentially related), but Pinback is my favorite.

I don't even know how to go about talking about them.  I first found them way back when Napster was still around, when it was still free; Napster used to have spotlights on different bands and as soon as I heard "Tripoli," it was love.  Their efforts since their debut Pinback (aka This Is A Pinback CD) have only gotten better.  A Pinback song is the kind of song that, at first, you hear but don't really listen to, but fifteen minutes later you find that you've got that hook stuck in your head.  It's just that there are so many layers.  Rob Crow has a voice that sounds like it couldn't possibly come from this kind of pudgy, occasionally bearded guy.  But it's perfect for this kind of music.  I could recognize it anywhere (like when I was listening to Team Sleep's "11:11" [yes!] and immediately thought, "That's Rob Crow!"  And it was.).

Anyway, picking out five Pinback songs is even harder than picking out five D-Plan songs (which has nothing to do with loving the Plan any less, because I don't).  So I think to make it easier on myself, I'm limiting myself to just the more recent stuff (from either Blue Screen Life or Summer in Abaddon), because that's what I've got on my computer.  The older stuff is on a CD that I'm honestly way too lazy to rip right now.  :D  Maybe we will have a Part Two.

Onward and upward!  (Before I start, I should direct you to The Rob Crow fan site for all your lyrical needs, and pretty much anything you would ever need to know about Rob Crow ever except maybe blood type and dental records).

Five of My Favorite Pinback Songs, Not Really In Any Order At All, With Very Lazy Commentary.

01.  Penelope
I mentioned this one in a throwaway comment on lj.  This is about a FISH.  We all know about my own dead fish problems, but I am just amazed that such a gorgeous song could be written about a fish (Zach's girlfriend's fish, to be specific).  Apparently, though, this has become that song for them, the one that everybody always requests at shows so they're burnt out on playing it and that is unfortunate.

02.  Seville
Sheena Bella walks and / Sheena Bella strays
And THAT is the bit that will get stuck in my head.

03.  Non Photo-Blue
Yeah, that hyphen looks misplaced to me, too. 
It took me a few listens before this one really caught me, but when I was skimming tracks to figure out which was going to be my fifth, I knew this was the one.  The piano is wonderful, right after crossword filled in non photo-blue.  But if you haven't noticed the vocal layering, (hopefully) you'll notice now.

04.  Sender
It had me at "ACUTE ANGLES."  :)  And there's some really nice piano (?) that pops up at about 1:45.

05.  Fortress
And this was the first taste I had of post This Is A Pinback CD Pinback.  The one complaint I have of early Pinback stuff is that it's all pretty medium-to-slow tempo, and while the hooks where there, they just weren't jumping out at me as indie rock until this.  Also, how can I not love a song that manages to take the phrase Safe as a cootie-wootie wit' you and make it work?

I really wish I was more familiar with them, but it's been only recently that the lightbulb really went on over my head and I realized how complex this music is.

As far as everything else under the umbrella and/or tangentially related, Rob Crow's discography gives you a pretty good idea of how expansive this man's talents are.  I think I heard a bit of Heavy Vegetable years ago, but it was hard to come by; Optiganally Yours is just bizarre (listen to "Geppetto" and "Poodleman" if you don't believe me--the latter, for example, is about getting an unwanted mullet haircut in the middle of the night).  I've enjoyed what I've heard of Thingy--the unidentified Pinback song I loved for years turned out to be a Thingy song after all ("Cut").  I regret that I've not heard any Goblin Cock.  :P

Meanwhile, Zach Smith's got Three Mile Pilot, which really is a lot like Pinback but without Rob Crow's vocals.  In fact, I've had the chorus to "Glitter Wave" stuck in my head for most of the day.  And from 3MP we jump to Black Heart Procession, which I don't like quite as much but is still worth a listen (especially "Release My Heart" and "Not Just Words").

WHEW OKAY.

I wonder how much media you can upload before VOX comes by and tells you to cut the shit out.