Pinback: S/D/C/D?

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I can't believe they didn't have their own thread...

That said, "Offcell", their new EP, is just a fucking wallop -- even compared to their previous releases. The best thing they've done to date... everything just sounds "turned up" and fluid.

donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 8 June 2003 23:49 (twenty-one years ago) link

I guess what I like most about Pinback is that they're kinda the "early XTC" of our generation... I wouldn't say they sound like that era of XTC exactly, but as far as infusing Beefheart influenced dancey pop rock, they're the best at the game of anyone else I've recently heard.

donut bitch (donut), Sunday, 8 June 2003 23:51 (twenty-one years ago) link

I am eager to hear this goodness.

Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 9 June 2003 00:02 (twenty-one years ago) link

I definitely prefer Thingy (1st album especially), though I like Pinback too. Haven't heard Heavy Vegetable, any good??

Aaron A., Monday, 9 June 2003 03:33 (twenty-one years ago) link

Soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo boring.

jm (jtm), Monday, 9 June 2003 03:43 (twenty-one years ago) link

i was completely taken with the songs i heard off the first album but their 2nd dissapointed - not enough hooks and the sound doesn't change at all, even a little bit. offcell is just more of the same but even less interesting.

phil turnbull (philT), Monday, 9 June 2003 04:09 (twenty-one years ago) link

Ouch. You people.

I really did not like Pinback when I first heard them, I thought they were bland.

Fuck, was I wrong.

Classic: "Tripoli", "Loro", "Offline P.K.", "Boo", "Bbtone", "June".

From Offcell I'd say everythingt except "B" is pretty good going on very good (almost classic to definitely classic). I'm surprised by how much this band has found their sneaky way into my heart.

It's like if some sunny Californians suddenly discovered the shadow behind the blazing sun, the endless dark that lives beyond our planet's blue sky shell.

David A. (Davant), Monday, 9 June 2003 04:57 (twenty-one years ago) link

Classic. Underrated, even.

Kenan Hebert (kenan), Monday, 9 June 2003 05:10 (twenty-one years ago) link

Yo Triscuit! Drop a few paragraphs on this here thread!

David R. (popshots75`), Monday, 9 June 2003 05:16 (twenty-one years ago) link

Mood classic, and getting more so. Another point of comparison with XTC is their love of voice-as-instrument ("Chaos Engine"). I haven't heard "Offcell" yet, but they were doing interesting new songs live that I hope are on it.

Plus, they apparently release an EP each time they tour, available only at shows. Anybody know the discographical details on these?

briania, Monday, 9 June 2003 05:56 (twenty-one years ago) link

Pinback? Great! I love the entire Blue Screen Life album, especially Offline P.K. (MP3 Here). Zach's (their singer, real name Armistead Burwell Smith IV, and yeah, I had to look that up) voice really reminds me of Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes. I haven't heard the Offcell album yet, alt.binaries.sounds.mp3.indie anyone?

zilverberg.tk (zilverberg.tk), Monday, 9 June 2003 20:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

there were a few moments off of blue screen life that sounded a little ska to me, and not in a particularly good way; but I got over that. the first album is a classic. haven't heard the ep yet.

anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:13 (twenty-one years ago) link

there were a few moments off of blue screen life that sounded a little ska to me

???

You mean "XIY" and "Offline PK"? Um, well, yeah the accents are on the 2nd and 4th beat... buuuttt....

donut bitch (donut), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:18 (twenty-one years ago) link

"Offline PK" conjured up the Police circa Ghost in the Machine when I heard it.

Sean Thomas (sgthomas), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:39 (twenty-one years ago) link

The yelping did it as much as the ska beat, I think...

Sean Thomas (sgthomas), Monday, 9 June 2003 21:40 (twenty-one years ago) link

Haha, well, you guys might be happy to know that they dropped the trumpets, horns, and checkerboard ties for this new EP.

donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 00:35 (twenty-one years ago) link

Pinback gets extra points for having lots and lots of great side projects. I fell hopelessly in love with the first self-titled disc and haven't felt that anything has lived up to it. I still don't, but the closest I've found is "Optiginally Yours", a Rob Crowe side project that sounds exactly like Pinback, only infused with a certain 50's hawaiian record campiness. You can score an MP3 on my site: http://www.frankpayne.com/html/main.php
It's like 8 or 9 down from the top of the DOWNLOADS list.

master_p, Tuesday, 10 June 2003 16:17 (twenty-one years ago) link

I'm a big fan of all of Rob Crow's musical handiwork.. though it would a little more fair to also mention Zach as far as Pinback goes, as it's really more "his" band than Rob's, as far as keeping the gears running. Same with Optiganally Yours, except with P. Hix. Again, not to remove the underscore of Rob's direction and contribution to the above, of which he's a big part no doubt!

Rob does plan to resurrect Thingy (minus Elea), for those of you keeping tabs. It may not necessarily keep the Thingy moniker, but it will happen.. one day! Also, Rob's now in a hardcore band called the Alpha Males with members of the Roswell Project. Also, don't forget his solo stuff.

donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 16:46 (twenty-one years ago) link

these are too many bands. People should be in, like, one band, tops, so I don't get confused as to which ones they're in are good and which ones allegedly suck.

anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 17:31 (twenty-one years ago) link

San Diego has a "5 band minimum" city ordinance, though

donut bitch (donut), Tuesday, 10 June 2003 18:03 (twenty-one years ago) link

> don't get confused as to which ones they're in are good and which > ones allegedly suck.
Well that's the beauty of the Pinback geneaology -- it's all good! I didn't know about Rob being in a hardcore band but it's funny that you say that... have you ever seen them live? They play all their songs at like twice the tempo you're used to hearing on their albums. It's like they're just dying to rock out but they're limited by these slow, mellow songs they wrote. Very bizarre. But cool too.

master_p, Tuesday, 10 June 2003 18:36 (twenty-one years ago) link

five months pass...
i never understood the appeal of pinback, talk about the whole being less than the sum of its parts.

i saw three mile pilot's last tour in a small club, half attended. seriously, one of the most overlooked bands ever. saw thingy's last show in SF in cory brown's living room in cole valley (with the extra glenns and jim yoshi pileup). they did a medley of misfits covers.

so pinback comes to town for their first show and i notice that they're playing the bottom of the hill, so i say "okay, let's head down early around 8:30, grab tickets and check out the openers else we can head to the parkside." so we show up at 8:30, there's a line around the block (which i've never seen at the BOTH) and that's just for willcall. the show had been sold out for weeks.

noone has ever explained this to me.

i heard the first ep, it was okay. i think i remember it, well it was either that or the new zz top, or the jets' "make it real". buy my book!

gygax! (gygax!), Thursday, 13 November 2003 15:13 (twenty years ago) link

five months pass...
Back here just to plug Zach's self titled solo EP/project Systems Officer... A lot of people usually associate Pinback as being "Rob Crow's most popular band", and while that's true, it's Zach who is the band's leader (though you wouldn't know it from his shyness on-stage), and this Systems Officer EP pretty much proves that many of Pinback's arrangements are the work of Zach rather than Rob. (Not to remove the underscore of Rob's contributions to Pinback, of course)

Basically, if you're a Pinback fan, you need the Systems Officer EP.


donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 20:36 (twenty years ago) link

(That said, Rob Crow's My Room Is A Mess solo record is his best record to date, and has many great moments)

donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 20:37 (twenty years ago) link

like gygax, i never much understood the appeal of pinback either. it was "pleasant", which is maybe the worst thing i can say about a band when it comes right down to it. (i.e. the steady stream of pleasantness i am confronted with at work vs. the stuff that actually affronts me.)

also like gygax, i think three mile pilot were tops.

(if you want you can also replace "pinback" with "black heart procession" and "three mile pilot" with "clikitat ikatowi" up there ha ha.)

strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 20:45 (twenty years ago) link

I think I'm the only person who got absolutely nothing from Clikitat Ikatowi (yet still enjoyed the Swing Kids, Antioch Arrow, Heroin, etc.)

donut bitch (donut), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 20:50 (twenty years ago) link

yeah i really only like the live record. and, of course, the packaging.

strongo hulkington (dubplatestyle), Wednesday, 5 May 2004 20:52 (twenty years ago) link

five months pass...
OK, Pinback are my faves. Recommendations along that line?

57 7th (calstars), Sunday, 10 October 2004 22:17 (twenty years ago) link

the police

kyle (akmonday), Sunday, 10 October 2004 22:31 (twenty years ago) link

ooh we already made that comparison up above. sorry. the new pinback album is much better than the last one.

kyle (akmonday), Sunday, 10 October 2004 22:33 (twenty years ago) link

grand national "kicking the national habit"

cutty (mcutt), Sunday, 10 October 2004 22:40 (twenty years ago) link

three years pass...

lol @ clickitat ikatowi!!

○◙i shine cuz i genital grind◙○ (roxymuzak), Wednesday, 1 October 2008 21:57 (sixteen years ago) link

ten months pass...

They don't really sound that much like The Police.

billstevejim, Monday, 10 August 2009 01:32 (fifteen years ago) link

I prefer my Thingy and Heavy Vegetable mix cds to anything Pinback has ever done. But Pinback, Other Men, The Ladies, Optiganally Yours and Goblin Cock have some good songs (specifically the stuff I mentioned first). Other Men is probably the closest Rob Crow stuff to Pinback. I lost interest in Pinback after hearing their last two studio albums.

My favorite Pinback song is Grey Machine - the long song with perfect vocal harmonies and a titillating piano/drum track. I was glad they performed it the one time I saw them live.

I haven't heard Rob Crow leading Advertising, Alpha Males, Altron Tube, Cthugha, Fantasy Mission Force, Holy Smokes, and Remote Action Sequence Project.

CaptainLorax, Monday, 10 August 2009 02:12 (fifteen years ago) link

or Physics

CaptainLorax, Monday, 10 August 2009 02:13 (fifteen years ago) link

five years pass...

I think 3x0 might be my favorite track of theirs. It was also the first track I heard.

calstars, Sunday, 12 April 2015 14:43 (nine years ago) link

Because the track names were arranged in alphabetic order

calstars, Sunday, 12 April 2015 14:43 (nine years ago) link

two years pass...

https://open.spotify.com/track/3yhNOXSirlttbhRXs6qWbx?si=IMXPB57MTzuP6hq78e6Lng

Zach solo feels

calstars, Saturday, 10 March 2018 03:17 (six years ago) link

one year passes...

pic.twitter.com/cbRdRDTxQM

— Rob Crow (@rob5d4) December 19, 2019

calstars, Thursday, 19 December 2019 23:54 (four years ago) link

Pinback played in my little town recently.

They sounded like ... Pinback.

alpine static, Friday, 20 December 2019 00:31 (four years ago) link

<q>OK, Pinback are my faves. Recommendations along that line?</q>

there are definitely Pinback vibes in the music of Oso Oso

alpine static, Friday, 20 December 2019 00:33 (four years ago) link

DAMMIT

anyway...

listen to Oso Oso

alpine static, Friday, 20 December 2019 00:33 (four years ago) link

those were all announced previously. the one above is just today's "drop" or whatever.

probably only interesting to metalheads and past attendees (of which i am one) but: this is by far Psycho's biggest pivot away from being a metal festival yet. last year they booked Beach House and a bunch of metal bands. this year, it's this (including the complete visual/branding overhaul).

alpine static, Friday, 20 December 2019 00:46 (four years ago) link

eleven months pass...

She’s posting all the time, but the boards ore down, it’s a burned out building. He’s spending all his time on his back, staring at the cieling. They spread themselves that way. I’m with that. I’m with them.

calstars, Monday, 23 November 2020 01:49 (three years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dv-ffi2hkTQ

still absolute tunes

maelin, Monday, 23 November 2020 18:29 (three years ago) link

nine months pass...

Driving today in traffic there was a black lady in a Cadillac with the windows down rocking Summer in Abaddon, super cool

calstars, Saturday, 4 September 2021 22:27 (three years ago) link

Did a little voice inside your head say, "No one uses the phone anymore"?

tumblin’ dice outro (morrisp), Saturday, 4 September 2021 22:36 (three years ago) link

The little voice said “hey soul sister”

calstars, Saturday, 4 September 2021 22:45 (three years ago) link

New Rob Crow band w/members of Drive like Jehu and Against Me. Digging the first song.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/plosivs-new-band-hit-the-breaks-1222367/

bookmarkflaglink (Darin), Thursday, 9 September 2021 19:44 (three years ago) link

I like that lineup a lot.

a superficial sheeb of intelligence (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 9 September 2021 19:46 (three years ago) link

love this! though based on that song this band is way more "New John Reis band with members of Pinback and Against Me"

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 9 September 2021 20:27 (three years ago) link

Yeah. I prefer Rob’s melodic side

calstars, Thursday, 9 September 2021 20:29 (three years ago) link

Really? Still feels very melodic to me (albeit more in a Heavy Veg/Thingy kind of way).

bookmarkflaglink (Darin), Thursday, 9 September 2021 20:53 (three years ago) link

It is melodic

Blues Guitar Solo Heatmap (Free Download) (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Thursday, 9 September 2021 21:13 (three years ago) link

I guess what I mean is less hurried compared to something like “good to sea.” I like a slower groove.
But I get that that’s probably not going to happen much with this project

calstars, Thursday, 9 September 2021 22:40 (three years ago) link

four months pass...

Zach just put out a nice new single but I think it’s only on shittyfy

https://open.spotify.com/track/2rpYIwPox3lkJBKbj9lEgK?si=JZHTT050RtKwODs26frEYA

calstars, Saturday, 29 January 2022 13:05 (two years ago) link

one year passes...

did this one-off from 2019 ever get discussed? it's fantastic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GC-FBUbHTMg

call all destroyer, Tuesday, 30 May 2023 20:34 (one year ago) link

Haven’t discussed it but I’ve heard it, nice one
Btw Zach is still putting out systems officer stuff on BC

calstars, Tuesday, 30 May 2023 20:46 (one year ago) link

wow i love pinback and that one totally missed my radar, will need to listen 100x more

blue6ave, Wednesday, 31 May 2023 05:19 (one year ago) link

the chorus is one of the few times where i hear rob's love of metal seep into a pinback song

call all destroyer, Wednesday, 31 May 2023 14:40 (one year ago) link

one year passes...

PSA they have an instagram account now https://www.instagram.com/this_is_a_real_pinback_account/ active for nearly a week

am i getting my hopes up for a new album

pitted (blue6ave), Tuesday, 29 October 2024 02:06 (four days ago) link

Sweet!

calstars, Tuesday, 29 October 2024 02:13 (four days ago) link


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