Pinback - "Autumn of the Seraphs"

Pinback - From Nothing to Nowhere (Touch and Go 2007)

Pinback - Autumn of the Seraphs - Touch and Go

I had originally intended to post this yesterday, but with the situation up at WLUW as dire as it is, reviews pretending as if nothing were happening hardly seemed appropriate. Having gotten my first taste of the station last week during a visit to the Windy City, it's clear that they're necessary. All I could think of was, "Finally! A station that doesn't play "Umbrella" every three songs." It's that attitude to diversity that opens doors, educates the ignorant, and allows two guys with their respective laptops to go on and on about their favorite albums. As you've seen this past week, a lot hinges on Loyola's decision.

But with the score straightened out, all I can do back here in South Carolina is, well, pretend nothing is happening at all. And today's review of Pinback is no coincidence: In a time of massive upheaval both for Michael and myself (not all of it WLUW-related), Rob Crow and his mates in Pinback returning for a fourth time with Autumn of the Seraphs seems not only logical but necessary. Pinback may be a band of many things, but radical reinvention certainly isn't one of them... And yet, through all of these albums and a multitude of EPs and their b-sides collection Nautical Antiques last year, they still have a remarkably good output in large part because they are so consistent.

That's taking the easy way out, though. There are too many reviews that drop a few references to Thingy or The Ladies or Goblin Cock or Living Well and then explain that Crow's got a little more tradition in his structure or piano in Pinback and moving on. It's not that simple, but sometimes the band makes it hard to argue the point. Really, what's the difference between Blue Screen Life and Summer in Abaddon to the average listener?

First impressions listening to this album will have you thinking, as with their prior releases, that this is really good. But is it the album of the year? Zach Smith's bass playing is only a little less prominent than on prior releases, but this has been replaced by a variety of sounds that make Autumn of the Seraphs their most varied and sonically diverse album yet. There were pianos on past releases of course, but on tracks like "How We Breathe" and "Bouquet" they stand out as prominently and as beautifully as ever despite only ever hitting about three notes. The guitars are fuzzed out on songs like "Walters," which is classic Pinback in the best sense as the lilting vocals and, again, piano bring the song to a rewarding decrescendo n' fade-out. "Torch" is all about a moody organ driving the percussion and vocal harmonies that wrap up the track. The genius of these songs is that the band builds on such simple melodies and reinvents reinvention by taking the best elements of their older songs and adding subtle touches from there. "Off By 50," their most epic song yet, could not end this "large"-sounding album better.

So what happens on the second, third, or eighth impression? How much distance can you get out of this album? The answer is that you can only get as much out of Pinback as you want. Cursory listens will yield cursory conclusions. There's so much both sonically and lyrically (though they are typically obtuse) to this group - and that includes dramatically different cover-art as you can see - that passing up another opportunity to give them a try would be fool hearty. I started this review by insisting that Pinback hadn't changed, but I suspect that Pinback themselves have such a sense of humor that they would've done the same in my position. The truth is, the band has changed dramatically and Autumn of the Seraphs is proof. Even low-quality rips off a leaked RAR file from June can't disguise that this band is sounding bigger than ever before. Hushed vocals battle mid-tempo post-modern pop for a fantastic listen that is, despite all of their added tweaks and touches, just as good as ever. In a time when we are questioning are futures here at Audiversity, Pinback give us the power to believe that staying the course and carrying on regardless is the best course of action. I am willing to believe.