I am usually skeptical of CDs that people give me. They'll say, "oh man... you gotta hear this, I know you'll love it." Most of the time it's something that's
OK, but not anything that makes me want to give that person a big hug the next time I see them. So, for Christmas this year, my cousin who I rarely see gives me 3
burned CDs. "Pinback" is scrawled across the jewel cases in blue
Sharpie, along with the song titles and stuff on the back. I assumed that they would be demo recordings for some lame band he or one of his friends was in... and that was quite a poor assumption indeed.
After getting tired of the CDs that were in my changer, I figured I might as well give these boys a shot. And from the opening licks of "Tripoli," the first track off of their self-titled LP, I realized that my dear old cousin had really given me something excellent. Pinback sound a bit like Sunny Day Real Estate, but it would be wrong to accuse them of ripping of their sound. They've got some very nice harmonies to go along with nicely subdued guitar work and drums that lie just deep enough in the sound to give their songs a relaxed feel. It's a very easy listening experience overall, which is something that I have tried to avoid recently by listening to Mogwai, Interpol, Tortoise and other post-rock. But to hear Pinback kick some relatively light tunes is simply divine. If you're into indie rock of any shape or form, I would highly recomend them.
Yes, as it turns out, Pinback are more than a bunch of Francophiles. (Look at the titles of the songs on their first album, for heaven's sake!} Who knew? Certainly not I.
Pinback (1999/Ace Fu)
1. Tripoli
2. Hurley
3. Charborg
4. Chaos Engine
5. Shag
6. Lyon
7. Loro
8. Crutch
9. Versailles
10. Rousseau
Blue Screen Life (2001/Ace Fu)
1. Offline P.K.
2. Concrete Seconds
3. Boo
4. Bbtone
5. Penelope
6. Talby
7. X.I.Y.
8. Prog
9. Your Sickness
10. Seville
11. West
12. Tres
Some Voices EP (2002/Absolutely Kosher)
1. Some Voices
2. Trainer
3. Manchuria
4. June