Pinback: Nothing Worthwhile Is Ever Easy

By: Robyn Rubinstein

Pinback (Armistead Burwell Smith IV & Rob Crow) By Drew Reynolds

Dance is my philosophy. Part of me feels like you should be able to move to everything, so music that inspires me to be still and listen is a rare thing. When I heard Pinback‘s latest album, Autumn of the Seraphs (released 9/11/07 on Touch & Go Records), it gradually slowed me to a halt, took my attention, then nearly made me cry. It was discomforting, slightly frenetic, compelling and honest all at once. I was left with the impression of intelligent indie rockers who took ownership of their neuroses and doubt and turned them into powerful music that treads the fine line between beautiful and painful, without being overdramatic or obvious. I wish my first impression of co-founding member guitarist Rob Crow had been as good.

We were supposed to meet after his October 26 show at Bimbo’s 365 Club for an interview. I was fairly surprised when his publicity contact told me that the interview was set for after the show, because in my experience, the last thing an artist wants to do after a show is give an interview, but I wasn’t the one designating meeting times. I was given a “when and where” and told to be patient, with which I had no problem. A guy just finishes the first of two sold out shows, and I’m sure he wants to have a drink, shoot the shit with his bandmates, maybe take a leak and smoke a cigarette before he sits down with a writer. I was fine to wait. However, the venue steadily cleared out and he was nowhere to be found. All calls and texts to his road manager were unanswered. Soon I was the only patron left in Bimbo’s and the staff was beginning to get salty with me. Just as they were on the verge of kicking me out, I saw his co-founder, bass prodigy Armistead “Zach” Burwell Smith IV, so I walked over, introduced myself and asked if he knew anything about Crow’s whereabouts. Smith was nice enough to tell me that Crow had already left the venue but I could find him at Kennedy’s Pub across the street. When I did locate him, he was in a back corner of the loud bar with an old friend having just ordered dinner. He did apologize for leaving and said he was still “into” our interview but he looked about as excited to talk as one would be for an inoculation that can only be injected in the ass. I felt a little bad, like I was a big imposition on a hard-working musician’s precious free time, until I asked him my first question and he laughed in my face.

Rob Crow

For the record, I don’t think Rob Crow is a bad guy, necessarily. I think he is a smart, talented musician who honestly doesn’t give a fuck about what anyone else thinks about him. Any man who fronts a metal band – one of Crow’s myriad of side projects – called Goblin Cock is obviously past the point of caring about other people’s opinions. Artistically, he produces music that is completely authentic and totally unapologetic. Pinback provides the funding for all his other projects (Aspects of Physics, Other Men and The Ladies, to name a few) allowing him all the artistic freedom he needs. He struck me as a real artist, and someone genuinely bothered by the trappings of success. The end result is a man who is utterly sick of talking about himself. He won’t even say the word “Pinback.” He refers to the band as the “Mothership” or the “P-word,” sort of like his own personal Voldemort. While we talked he took a few jabs at music writers and he went on two separate (and drunken) tirades about how he hates Bob Dylan, since he never really contributed anything to American music and therefore “takes credit for a culture that he didn’t create,” and how Bob Marley was a Nazi because of the racist tenets of Rastafarianism.

“I hate Dylan. Someone please explain to me why I should like Bob Dylan,” Crow says. “I’m ready to be converted but no one can ever give me a good reason.” Tentatively, I responded that I was pretty sure that Dylan wrote a good chunk of the American musical landscape. Crow snorted back at me, “That’s not an answer.”

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I hate Dylan. Someone please explain to me why I should like Bob Dylan. I’m ready to be converted but no one can ever give me a good reason. -Rob Crow

Photo of Rob Crow by Terrin Durfey

While these pearls of wisdom were fascinating, my real questions didn’t get answered. For example, Pinback personifies indie rock, not only as a genre but also as independent musicians. They share sole writing duties and recording duties, using Smith’s home studio in lieu of professional engineers and sound studios. Unlike many bands that are categorized as indie rock, Pinback is actually signed to an independent label.

Pinback by Brad Miller

“I don’t think people really know what indie rock means anymore,” Crow says in between beer swigs. “I think people hear bands like Modest Mouse and think that’s indie rock, when really, it’s corporate rock. It’s on a major label, everything is paid for and it’s served up to people, pre-packaged McDonald’s style.”

I thought it was extremely interesting that he picked Modest Mouse, since they and Pinback have something in common. They were both launched to notoriety when their songs appeared on The O.C. How was it that such staunch indie stalwarts and fierce advocates of art appeared on something as mundane as Fox Televison? Interestingly, since this interview Pinback’s music has also been featured on the newest hot teen drama, Gossip Girl.

“You know why we did The O.C.? Because this guy told us to,” explains Crow. He gestured to his friend who had been sitting with us for the duration of our conversation. His friend had offered to leave us alone when we began the interview, but Crow insisted he stay. “I didn’t tell you to do it,” his companion replied. “Are you sure? Then who was it?” inquired Crow. They mulled over this point for a while. “I dunno,” Crow shrugged. “Someone told us it was a good show so we did it. At least it wasn’t… [pauses] What’s that other show that I hate?” “Battlestar Galactica,” his friend replied, and they shared a good guffaw.

Pinback – Armistead Burwell Smith IV & Rob Crow

It’s somewhat fitting that Crow would be a difficult person to interview, since Pinback is not easy to digest. Their layered, complex harmonies and poetic lyrics are magnetic, at times bordering on seductive. They can also be fairly depressing. I found a review of Autumn of the Seraphs in the Village Voice that aptly expressed this conundrum. I wanted to read that review to Crow to see what he thought. It was when I asked if I could read him part of that review that he laughed in my face. I read it to him anyway. The review ends by saying:

“[Pinback relies] heavily on brooding, angular guitars to such an excessive degree that three-fourths of the way through a typical album, most listeners are left incapacitatingly bummed, if not merely confused or bored.”

Crow smiled wryly, “I like being confused. Actually, I like being confused into submission, so that I’m not depressed anymore, because when I stop being confused, I think about everything too much.”

It’s hard not to over think while listening to Pinback, so perhaps confused into submission is part of their ethos. In spite of the heavy nature of their songs, their live performance had a distinct self-deprecating sense of humor. Crow had one keyboard that was nothing but samples of Venom songs that spewed satanic preaching. It was reminiscent of Ferris Bueller’s Day Off when he plays “Chopsticks” out of vomit noises. In between songs, Crow would smile sardonically, then hit a key that would pronounce, “Now we’re gonna do a song about Satan and BLOOD!” That was juxtaposed with tunes like “How We Breathe” (lilting and gorgeous – listen) or “Good to Sea” and “Blue Harvest,” which have just the slightest hint of pop. “From Nothing to Nowhere” is a fast paced anthem, while “Syracuse” and “Tripoli” were slower, contemplative journeys. They did include the crowd pleaser “Fortress,” which was the song heard ’round the world from The O.C.. At times there seemed to be great attention to detail, while others seemed haphazard, as Crow would chug bottles of Guinness. In spite of lackluster moments, their lyrics and layered compositions were captivating. “Bouquet” combines visions of the ocean with free flowing tears. There is a great deal of ocean imagery on Seraphs, and that is exactly what Pinback does – washes over you like waves.

Pinback may be difficult, depressing, confusing or all of the above but it is also, without a doubt, authentic art. It is raw creative expression, unfettered and real. That quality of unadulterated honesty alone makes Pinback worth the extra work. They may never answer some key questions, but that’s fine. The most satisfying answers are the ones you derive yourself.

Pinback tour dates available here.

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