Hometown CD Review 12-2-04
Album Name: Summer in Abaddon (2004)

Stronger than most of Pinback's previous efforts, the album's sonic cohesiveness is tighter than anything typically found on indie-pop/rock releases. The words and melodies bleed into something meant to appeal to emotion not sense. In this amalgam of blurred sentiment, it is sometimes hard to distinguish what frontman Rob Crow is saying, but this only adds to the viscerally submerged appeal.

A sad longing pervades each song. Aspects of elusive, melodic angst are captured in the soft chords of the electric guitar as they switch from continuous to muted. The intertwined melodies and the slow acoustic build-up of each track expose fervency in the languid; dejection in the capriciously happy. In "Non Photo-Blue," Crow confesses (backed by weeping guitar chords), "I think about you some / where to put you / all the backed up data for a raining time / insulate a fragile mind / capsulize a broken find."

An urgency hangs in the Faulkner-esque penning of "Bloods On Fire:"

"Head to head. Twisted. Sore. Accident. Never warned. Can't explain. Nevermore." Though Crow's whispered vocals teeter on the edge of inaudible, the instruments never seem to overpower him. Short guitar riffs and enduring percussion produce a driving, textured sound. This paired with the hand-scrawled liner notes and phrases like "safe as a cootie wootie with you," "light my heart," and it's easy to get lost in the intricate, simple beauty of it all.

Songs:
1. Non Photo-Blue
2. Sender
3. Syracuse
4. Bloods on Fire
5. Fortress
6. This Red Book
7. Soaked
8. 3X0
9. The Yellow Ones
10. Afk