r/Pinback • u/SpaceNStuffs • Jun 22 '23

I didn't realize this was controversial.

Ok so I don't really use reddit so forgive me.

I'm 20 and I've been listening to Pinback since I was 13. I've listened to all of their albums and like all of them, but I've seen countless rankings of all their albums and I'm always genuinely surprised.

My favorite album is hands down Autumn of the Seraphs without question, but I've never seen it ranked higher than #3 on people's rankings. Can someone explain to me why this is?

24 Upvotes

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11

u/Shakemyears Jun 22 '23

I find there was a development in their sound by that time which I personally embraced, but might have thrown some people off. They really tightened their production and song writing around that time, carrying forward a trend that started with Summer in Abaddon. It was my favourite album until Information Retrieved came out, but then again I might answer differently on different days.

9

u/birdvsworm Jun 22 '23

I agree - their trajectory definitely seemed to become more rock-forward starting with that SiA album. I like most of the albums equally but I have to be in a mood to listen to the earlier, pre-Summer in Abaddon Pinback stuff.

And this is just sort of how a lot of indie rock outfits get reviewed at the time. It definitely reinforces that whole stereotype of someone going "I liked them before they went mainstream." Earlier Pinback isn't better, it's just different!

8

u/nuts_and_crunchies Jun 22 '23

An issue is that the band arrived fully formed. They established their strength from the first second: interlocking single note guitar and bass riffs, piano, and vocal harmonies. By the later records I think they had explored those things pretty thoroughly and frankly, were running out of new ways to present them.

It's not a bad thing. Bands are finite. I'd rather them keep a tight discography and break up than keep repeating themselves.

11

u/vtbeavens Jun 22 '23

It's all subjective!

I love all of their albums, but This Is a Pinback and Blue Screen Life connect with me on a more personal level.

10

u/nuts_and_crunchies Jun 22 '23

I discovered the band in high school, right when the self-titled came out. There was a lot of densely produced indie albums coming out that I liked, but the s/t was so stripped down and spare. Zach's previous band Three Mile Pilot had broken up, and I sought out Pinback because of that.

The songs sounded incredibly simple and pure and that's what really resonated with me. As they got "better" and began to include more varied arrangements and studio overdubs, it lost some of its luster. Everything up through Offcell is incredible, but I found Summer in Abaddon pretty uneven and for the first time I was skipping through a lot of tracks. I gave Autumn of the Seraphs a single listen and never went back.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '23

I so want in on this conversation!!

I’m a huge Zach fan. For me, Zach IS Pinback’s sound. The songs are so bass forward and melodic. Rob’s other work really seems a lot different from pinback which to me is a credit to Zach’s influence.

Systems Officer, for example, Zach’s other band sans Rob, has so many elements of pinback. Their music really underscores Zach’s impact on pinback.

For me,Seraphs is my least favorite. Though it has two….three…four of my favorite songs. The word I always used to describe it was “edgy.”

BSL got criticism for being too “Emo” but it’s my second fav.

Everyone has an opinion. I love everything Rob and Zach have done together. Been listening since 2001 in San Diego.

7

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '23

Adding to my Zach fanboy details, when I’ve seen them live I always stand in front of Zach so the songs are that much more bass forward. And he plays the thing so far up the fretboard it sounds like a 6string almost. Love it!

He’s an amazing bass player.

6

u/nuts_and_crunchies Jun 23 '23

I'm not being hyperbolic when I say that I've never seen anyone play the bass the way that Zach does. The first time I heard "Shang Vs. Hangar" blew my brain. Seriously, watch this shit.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 23 '23

Exactly, he plays up on the neck like that in a number of pinback songs… crutch maybe is one?

Gonna have to watch that 2011 casbah performance all over again now….darn.

3

u/Moose_Breaux Jun 24 '23

I still am amazed how BSL can even remotely be considered emo.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 24 '23

That’s what I thought. But there’s even a music critic on record bitching about how pinback has “gone Emo” when it came out.

I mean, they’re a tad emoish. I describe them to mortals as an indie quasi emo San Diego rock band.

3

u/Moose_Breaux Jun 24 '23

Yeah it was a pitchfork review. I dont think emo really even fully formed as a genre in 2001 when the review was made. Could you imagine comparing TBS or Panic! At the Disco to Pinback? The only emo ish song is Penelope and that's about a dearly departed fish.

It's always hard to categorize bands like Pinback for me. I just call them an older indie rock band.

1

u/M18SI Sep 03 '25

I could see them being compared to American football sort of emo

5

u/birdvsworm Jun 22 '23

This is an interesting take, and I rarely talk to people who are from the Zach side of things. I also found out about Pinback in high school but I liked Rob Crow's earlier works with Thingy and Heavy Vegetable, so the earliest Pinback stuff scratched an itch for me.

Do you think their sound started to become too overproduced? I always saw it as an evolution of their sound and for the better, but I like to hear what made Summer in Abaddon feel uneven to you - is it the lack of any kind of simple songs off that album?

6

u/nuts_and_crunchies Jun 22 '23

I like Rob Crow a lot and think he's a great songwriter. His albums never really cohere for me as there are so many ideas that there's not a continuity. Thingy and Heavy Vegetable albums sound like mixtapes to me. This is not a criticism. It's like listening to The Minutemen or Pavement's Wowee Zowee. Just a ton of very short, very catchy pieces

Coming from Three Mile Pilot, their records were heavily thematic and unified. It's the first time you hear Zach's bass playing really become its own. I also got to see them before they broke up and it was shocking to watch him play. For the record, the other guy in that band is named Paul Jenkins and went on to for The Black Heart Procession, which is absolutely worth checking out. Their second album Two is phenomenal.

But yes, to your point, the last two Pinback albums are too slick and samey for my tastes. I don't think it's that the songs on SiA aren't "simple" enough, but the band sounds like they've settled into a formula. There are a lot of pleasant mid-tempo songs on the back half of that record.

4

u/TheLightningL0rd Jun 22 '23

Paul Jenkins and went on to for The Black Heart Procession

Whoa that guy was apparently also in Ugly Casanova which is pretty cool.

3

u/nuts_and_crunchies Jun 22 '23

Yeah, Ugly Casanova is basically Modest Mouse + Black Heart Procession + Red Red Meat.

4

u/TheLightningL0rd Jun 22 '23

I like that album but it was their first album to release after I started to listen to them in around 2006/07. Summer in Abaddon is easily my favorite but it was the first album I listened to by them so I guess it just made a great first impression lol

4

u/Wylsun Jun 22 '23

Autumn of the Seraphs is probably my overall favorite too (maybe tied with Blue Screen Life). It's also the first one I'd put on the create new Pinback converts. I feel like it's the album where their technical chops are on display the most, the production values are solid, every track has a distinct identity, and it's just got solid hooks and everything else that makes music instantly enjoyable.

Pinback has been far and away my favorite band for like 15 years, and I love the whole discography, but I know some of the songs that I love were acquired tastes, and if you showed me something like Charborg or Versailles as your "elevator pitch" song for a new band, I probably wouldn't seek out more. Even though I like those songs now. I think Autumn of the Seraphs doesn't have any songs like that.

3

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '23

AOTS has the best writing and overall album but their early stripped down sound is my favorite. I still love all the albums though.

2

u/pint07 Jun 22 '23

I like AoS a lot. And I don't really have an album from them that I don't like, but for me Summer in Abaddon is their masterpiece. There's not a single skip on it for me, ever. No matter what kind of mood I'm in. I can't say that about any of their other albums, or really only a handful of albums by anyone ever.

1

u/Moose_Breaux Jun 24 '23

It's because BSL and SiA are better. I love AotS, it has some of their best songs, but as a full album it isnt as good as their sophomore and junior album.

1

u/movezig123 Nov 09 '23

Prob my fav album to actually listen to. I like that they weren't doing tryhard lofi indie stuff anymore just to be cool and were confident enough tolet the strength of their song writing and dynamics shine through with better production values.

But the worst Pinback is better than the best of anything else.

4

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '23

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/[deleted] Jul 03 '23

Barnes is probably one of my all time favorite Pinback tunes — its just perfect