The Local Heavy #2: Pinback Concert Review

Welcome back to the latest installment of The Local Heavy. I think The Local Heavy is going to be the name of this blog. It’s a pretty good name I guess. No, it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, grammatically speaking, but that’s what you kids are into these days right? Awkward, non-sensical names and titles that are really ‘hip’ sounding. If you hate it, or if you have a better suggestion, leave me a comment or something.

Anyways. On with the show.

Last month, I traveled to New York City for my honeymoon. Aside from seeing the usual NYC sites and celebrating our marriage, I took the opportunity to drag my wonderful new wife to dozens of record stores and hole-in-the-wall rock venues. She was thrilled. For serious though. Orion’s belt must have shone kindly upon our union as indie-rock legends Pinback were playing in NYC while we were there. Luckily, my wife happens to love Pinback almost as much as I do.

***Note: I realize it may be useless to review a show in NYC that probably no one in Winnipeg saw, but hey, it’s probably one of the best shows I have seen all year. Also, this is my blog and I can do what I want, so let the gloating begin!

The show was held at the Bowery Ballroom, a very impressive building. Imagine if the Pyramid and the Burt had a love child and you are getting close. While smaller than the Pyramid, the Bowery captured the intimacy of small clubs and the architecture and acoustics that the Burt is famous for.

I’m not sure if the show was sold out, but the floor was absolutely packed by the time southern-rock sludge outfit Kylesa hit the stage.

I wasn’t familiar with Kylesa’s music before seeing them, and normally I would probably like them. But they just weren’t doing it for me. First off, Kylesa are an odd fit to be opening for Pinback: they are slow, heavy, and crusty - an amalgamation of stoner rock and ‘80s inspired hardcore and have two drummers. While some of the riffs had my head nodding in approval and while watching the call-and-answer drum fills between the two drummers was captivating, the vocals prevented me from getting into Kylesa’s set. Specifically, the female vocals. Her vocals came across as sounding forced and almost weak, like she was trying a bit too hard. Though occasional, the moments where she sang cleanly were the excellent counter-point to Kylesa’s swampy sound.

On to Pinback.

Pinback were amazing. Simple as that. Frontmen Rob Crow and Zach Smith blazed through a nearly two-hour set of songs ranging from their vast catalog. To those unfamiliar with Pinback, their music is best described as intricate. Typically mellow, Pinback’s songs feature quirky melodic motifs, inter-locking and independent guitar/bass/piano arrangements and probably some of the strongest, smartest and catchiest melodies going today. Needless to say, I was curious and even a tad skeptical about what Pinback would sound like in a live setting. How would the almost whispered vocals on songs like ‘Penelope’ translate to a room of 300 people?

Seconds into their set, my anxieties were erased and I became lost watching one of my favourite bands. Pinback delivered a balanced set of material from their latest record, ‘Autumn of the Seraphs,’ and older classics and had video projections accompanying every song. Tunes like ‘Microtonic Wave,’ ‘Blood’s on Fire’ and the greatest love song ever written about a goldfish, ‘Penelope,’ sounded perfect, the intricacies not lost, but amplified (figuratively and literally) in the live context.

Most impressive of all was bassist/vocalist Zach Smith. I never really realized just how central Smith’s playing is to Pinback if only because he plays the instrument like a guitar. Smith effortlessly provides the harmonic and melodic backbone to many songs as he plays full chords on the bass, often strumming it like a guitar. Needless to say, I was absolutely amazed to hear riffs that I could have sworn were played by a guitar on record coming out of Smith’s bass amp.

The atmosphere in the Bowery changed once Pinback hit the stage. I’m not sure if it was the excitement of a packed venue, the fact that nearly everyone sang nearly every word to ‘Fortress’ (I even caught myself singing along several times throughout the night), or if it was simply the magic of seeing Pinback perform - a band whose music is practically a genre onto itself, immediately recognizable, unique and always memorable.

On another note, send + receive starts this week. Be sure to check out my interview in this week’s Uniter with the festival’s Artistic Director and sound artist crys cole, and keep an eye on this blog as i plan to give post some coverage of the shows that i catch. see you soon.