Summer In Abaddon [Digipak]

Performer: Pinback
Engineer: Armistead Burwell Smith IV; Rob Crow
Distributor: Alternative Dis. Alliance

Notes: Pinback: Rob Crow, Armistead Burwell Smith IV, Kenseth Thibideau, Cameron Jones, Ryan Bromley. Recording information: Absiv's Backroom; Rob's Bedroom. Although Summer in Abaddon is in keeping with the lush, bittersweet tenor of Pinback's previous work, the band's Touch & Go debut is much quieter and more reserved than the busy electronic indie pop of 2003's Offcell EP. Instead, the band opts for a more organic, introspective sound that tends to put interesting productions and arrangements ahead of driving tempos or instantly catchy songwriting. Fortunately, this emphasis on delicate, cerebral pop pays off, albeit eventually: although tracks like the darkly lovely "Sender" and "3X0" initially seem too atmospheric, they gradually reveal tightly structured melodic interplay that makes them more intriguing than they might be if they were more immediately engaging. Indeed, Summer in Abaddon might work best as background music that occasionally creeps up and surprises you with its musical and lyrical details. The album's pristine production and emphasis on acoustic and electric pianos adds to its subtle, sophisticated feel, particularly on the vaguely jazzy "Bloods on Fire" and the softly poppy "This Red Book." Even the more immediate tracks, such as "Non Photo Blue," "The Yellow Ones," and "Syracuse," have a more polished, mysterious vibe than any of Pinback's previous work. The band does rock out, relatively, on the gently driven "Fortress" and "AFK," which recalls Pinback's emo roots, but the album's most delicate moments are also its strongest. Summer in Abaddon is an album of small, but hardly insignificant pleasures, and it may be Pinback's finest work yet. ~ Heather Phares A little research on the title of Pinback's 2004 album SUMMER IN ABADDON reveals the literal meaning of Abaddon as "complete destruction or ruin," as well as being the Hebrew name for the demon guarding the pits of Hell. It could, of course, also be referring to the small township in Pennsylvania. The album itself is also full of contrasts, meshing crisp, mid-tempo math-rock rhythms and pristine guitar work with rather cryptic and unsettling lyrics, one part journal entry and one part jagged-romance manifesto. Copious syncopation and vocal harmonies hint at mid-era Sunny Day Real Estate, though Pinback's bass-heavy melodies owe more of a debt to slowcore heroes Bedhead. The group approaches the emotional peaks of early Modest Mouse with the stiff-and-staggered delivery of "Non Photo-Blue" and "Syracuse," but the drums-and-piano arrangement of "The Yellow Ones" hints at a darker direction towards the end of the album. Perhaps not quite dark enough to verge on the aforementioned pits of Hell, but certainly enough to seem pitch black against the idyllic atmosphere of the rest of the record.

Mojo (Publisher) (p.104) - 3 stars out of 5 - "Wrapping the sweetest melodies around uncertainty and sometime sadness, Armistead Burwell Smith IV and Rob Crow's blend of warm and wistful is almost impossible to resist."

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