It’s one thing for a record cover to be so bad as to turn you off, but it’s another thing entirely for it to make you question your enjoyment of it’s contents. I have been contemplating a review of Pinback’s “Autumn of the Seraphs” for over a year, not entirely certain how I felt about it. The bald truth is that I am STILL not sure how I feel about it.
Opening with the Cure-inspired greatness of “From Nothing to Nowhere” and one of the better breaks in alterna pop music these days straight out of “Jumping Someone Else’s Train,” Rob Crow (or Robertdale Rulon Crow Jr. as he is credited) once again paired with Zach Smith, makes a case for his genius. My problem with Crow has always been in his multiple projects where he has veered from pop sweetness to borderline thrash rock. I often wished he would focus on one direction and truly take it to the heights he could potentially deliver – but even more so I have been concerned that he is not being genuine in any of the endeavors. Following with the plodding emo of “Barnes” does little to quell my concerns – not that it doesn’t have interesting instrumental portions.
Then he does it to me again – “Good to Sea” is a goth pop smash pairing Mates of State keyboard plinks with icy riffs and Modern English leads lurking underneath. It also truly makes the most of the home studio feel the band/duo has on record, which usually disappears live. “How We Breathe” continues the tiny drum machine whisk with muscular picked bass and guitar nice and slow. Not terribly strong on the melody but “Walters” comes on as a hushed version of the same with a little more to grip despite it’s ill-advised heavy riff and annoying bridge. The effect is akin to slowcore Rush being played in one’s bedroom and once again – I just don’t know how I feel about that.
“Subbing For Eden” sounds like so many fourth generation DC bands in the early 90s. The rest of the record carries on in that vein but with a much heavier drum influence on the backend of the record. Some editions contained a bonus disc with 3 additional tunes. They are fine but not essential. The sound is slightly more raw as far as recording the guitar parts, which I am indifferent towards. The arrangements are a little more staged as well which I lean towards disliking.
The design from David Babbitt is built around the art of Mike Sutfin, well known in fantasy games/skateboarding circles. While Sutfin’s work is perfect for one of Crow’s other projects, the mysterious Goblin Cock, it serves as a major deterrent here (as it does on the Pinback website as well.) Little in the music leaves you with the anticipation of fairies and dragons or skulls and daggers that seem to be lurking around every corner in Sutfin’s work. It is only executed in a graphic novel style so as not to reach past into another level of sophistication and it is far from being ironic (in a way the Cock records seem to be) so I am left with it at face value and that is a stunner. Babbitt serves to muddy the waters a little as well with running the lyrics in cascading rolls of type, but it is Sutfin that is the ultimate turn-off.
The main commonality in the Pinback discography is it’s poor design so I shouldn’t expect much – but one never loses hope.
The crux of the issue lies in the good: “From Nothing to Nowhere” and “Good to Sea” as well as being on Touch and Go – the bad: the bulk of the other songs – and the ugly: the packaging – serving to confuse me to such a degree that my head spins. Crow has enough history that I know the winning tunes aren’t an accident, yet why then the weak compliments and no one could ever tell me the cover invites in the listener that would lap up “Good to Sea.” I am not criticizing anyone for liking this type of art wrapped around their fantasy novels, but I am pretty resolute that no one would have picked up a Cure record with this slapped on it (and recommended it to a friend with a straight face.)
I suspect that a lot of this makes Pinback a guilty pleasure for some (I know I love those two songs here but could never recommend the disc for fear of the backlash surrounding everything else.) True? Let me know.
Scoring at home just for fun: Music 2 songs are 7’s with the rest being 3’s so 5.0, Design: 2.0 (off the mark big time)
John Foster owns his very own design firm, Bad People Good Things and is the author of For Sale: Over 200 Innovative Solutions in Packaging Design (HOW), New Masters of Poster Design (Rockport), Maximum Page Design (HOW) as well as an upcoming collection of handmade graphics entitled Dirty Fingernails for Rockport and a monograph on Jeff Kleinsmith for Sub Pop Records.
I remember getting this CD from Touch’n'go in the mail and being so put off by the cover I actually NEVER listened to it.
April 8, 2009 at 3:53 pmI don’t know either.
I get that ethereal quality out of Pinback’s sound and can possibly tie it to a fantasy style of illustration, but I’m not sure that’s the *strongest* idea.
this cover is le worst.
April 8, 2009 at 4:04 pmthe name itself is a bad idea too.
too evocative of things like “NICKELBACK” or something.
i am so shallow about what music i am going to even try to listen, its horrible.
I haven’t listened to this album (or any new albums since the early ’00s), but I love, love, love some of their older stuff. still.
seriously one of the first things I re-downloaded to my new iPod.
April 8, 2009 at 4:12 pmI am loathe to admit it but I wouldn’t have ever listened to Pinback either given the name and various packaging (certainly not if this was the first album I encountered) if I didn’t already love Crow’s Optiganically Yours project.
Artwork would certainly be enhanced by unicorns but that just goes without saying.
April 8, 2009 at 4:29 pm
I haven’t heard any Pinback and have only heard a smattering of Goblin Cock so I can’t comment on the music. But That cover seems only appropriate for swedish operatic metal and even then it doesn’t seem metal enough.
April 8, 2009 at 3:44 pmThey should have thrown some Unicorns on that thing and made it an old school fantasy journal.