San Diegan duo Pinback write complex, layered compositions in which listeners slip into meditative journeys that are equal parts astounding and numbing. The enigmatic indie-rock entity continue to make intriguing music with a conscience that’s unswayed by the pressures of an unpredictably music industry. It’s music that’s raw, genuine, honest and intricately mellow. “When we got together in the mid to late ’90s, we just thought it’d be fun to put our ideas together,” says multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Zach Smith (aka Armistead Burwell Smith IV). “It came down to that whole two-person, really mellow… like sipping tea,” he laughs. “It was very relaxed, and I think our music kind of reflected how mellow our hang-outs were. We’ve kind of gone from super mellow to more, I guess you’d say, rockier,” he chuckles, before adding: “I didn’t want to use that word.”
A deep-seated melancholy, however, pervades their music’s melodious textures. “That’s a big part of our sound too – there is a dark element all the way through everything; it’s a natural gravitation toward minor stuff and that came off of being in Three Mile Pilot beforehand,” Smith notes. “I think our darkest album is probably our second one (2001’s Blue Screen Life); other people probably wouldn’t see that.”
Smith affirms that each musical project has been equally important to him. “I was in Three Mile Pilot for years and that broke off into Pinback and Black Heart Procession – that band’s really got its own identity and is very unique, I think, and one that I love,” Smith asserts. “Rob was in Heavy Vegetable… we were very different from each other, but when you took Rob from Heavy Vegetable and I from Three Mile Pilot, it definitely formed its own unique identity and the Pinback sound.”
Since forming in 1998, Pinback have not only garnered a strong underground following, but intrigued listeners through their poetic lyricism, mystical imagery and poignant themes. Walters – a particularly memorable track from Pinback’s fourth album, 2007’s Autumn Of The Seraphs – epitomises the unique manner in which the duo intertwine melodic, lyrical and thematic inspirations to create affecting sonic narratives. The aforementioned song was inspired by Larry Walters who achieved his life ambition, but took his own life shortly after his greatest triumph.
Walters had accomplished his dream of flying in a lawn chair attached to weather balloons and was subsequently asked to tour as a motivational speaker to share his experience. Sadly, it wasn’t long after his lecturing tour that he went out hiking and shot himself in the heart. The story led lead singer/guitarist Rob Crow to ponder: what happens when you’ve accomplished what you’ve always wanted to accomplish, is there just a big gaping hole where your ambition was, and do you have new ambitions?
Emphasising Pinback’s unique articulation of isolation and introversion, Autumn Of The Seraphs was an enthralling record that encouraged listeners to ponder issues of existential purpose and fulfilment.
“I think Rob does that more,” says Smith. “Walters is about that guy who’s doing something really cool and all of a sudden just kills himself – it’s like ‘oh God…’. Rob’s always messing around with stuff like that and that’s one of the cool things about Pinback, I feel, is that there’s two different lyrics going on a lot of the time – there’s his and then there’s mine. We’ll be talking about two different things about the song but somehow down the line, we’ll find that they relate. There’s always that stuff that’s hidden in the background. I’m pretty upset with how the world’s going right now. It’s pretty depressing – I think we need to move to Australia, if there’s any room… it sounds like there’s a lot of room down there,” he laughs. “That’s what we need – we need space.”
Pinback will be embarking on their much-anticipated debut Australian tour next week (live drummer Chris Prescott will be joining them in Oz) and aim to release their fifth album early 2012.
On Record Store Day this year (April 16), Pinback released Information Retrieved A (featuring Sherman and Thee Srum Proggitt) on vinyl – the first instalment of a three-part series that will make up their fifth album, Information Retrieved. “They’re the beginnings of the next album, which we’re in the process of recording right now, and we thought it’d be interesting to do it in parts, so we could kind of bring the fans along a little bit,” Smith explains. “It’s unfortunate that it seems the record is now in the past and iTunes kind of killed that – everyone just likes a song from a band and the younger generation doesn’t really sit down and listen to an album from beginning to end.
“So we were like ‘well, let’s get people more interested in what an album is again instead of just a hit song or single; here’s the first part of what we’re thinking and there’ll be a second and third one and then a finished album’. And hopefully, by putting all those parts together, there might be a new appreciation for an album. Because for us, that’s always what it’s been about… the dynamics of an album.”
Another aspect of Pinback that renders them authentic is their adherence to a sound that’s distinctly their own: “A great thing about Rob and I is that we’re pretty opposite in a lot of ways and I think that’s what helps make Pinback what it is.” Whereas Crow is a huge collector of music (Smith once joked that his band mate bought about 20 CDs a day while he owns about 20 CDs), Smith finds that his desire to listen to music often equates to sitting down at the piano and creating his own.
Pinback play their first Melbourne show at The Corner Hotel on Sunday August 21. The duo’s much-anticipated fifth album will be released early 2012.
