So, you can imagine my delight when a few weeks ago I read that Pinback were coming around again, and were going to play not one, but two shows -- one early, all-ages show, with fellow San Diegoans Boilermaker opening, and another 21+ show with local Seattle band The Terror Sheets serving as the opening act. Considering the fact that I'd seen the Terror Sheets before (and they were excellent), and had not seen Boilermaker (whose live show I was quite curious about), I decided to opt for the all-ages event. In contrast to Pinback's last Seattle appearance, this one was quite healthily attended, especially for an early all-ages show -- there were probably 150 or so people there by the time Pinback came on.

Local band Aveo was to open the proceedings. If you don't live in Seattle, odds are that you probably haven't heard of these kids yet, but if you do, there's just no way around them. Unfortunately, the local hype is unwarranted -- although they're not exactly terrible, they're hardly the stars-in-waiting that the local press makes them out to be. With a singer who sounds way too much like an addled young Morrissey and overly long songs that sport nothing so much as a shocking lack of dynamics, Aveo tries my patience on any night. Tonight was no exception, and I waited their set out at the bar.

Boilermaker was up next, and unfortunately, proved to be a bit of a bore. While their sound was initially quite captivating, with Terrin Durfey's strained vocals and melodic basslines leading the way, too many of their songs were plagued with dragging tempos, which, coupled with Durfey’s keening voice, made for a rather hypnotic effect ­- but not exactly in a good way. Even songs such as "Sunset Ridge" and "Norman", which are quite riveting on record, lacked energy and wound up blending into the rest of their set -- which, as a whole, emerged as an indistinct, shapeless mass. I got the feeling that this was an off night for them, but nonetheless, I was quite ready for their set to end when it did...

Especially considering the melodic feast that was to come. The two times I've seen them, Pinback have put on one of the most captivating, hypnotic, and downright interesting live shows I've ever witnessed. For those not in the know, Pinback is the fruitful collaboration between two San Diego oddballs -- Rob Crow, the past and present brains behind such combos as Heavy Vegetable, Thingy, and Optiganally Yours, and the wonderfully named Armistead Burwell Smith IV, a former member of Three Mile Pilot. Both Crow's and Smith's work outside of Pinback has been characterized by spidery melodies, strange technical progressions and some seriously loopy lyrical content (one of my favorite lines from a Thingy song goes "Even the cutest baby/can grow up to be a dickhead/humans are mostly assholes/you’re even probably a shithead/I wish it wasn't true/But it is true"). When you put the two of them together, you end up with one of the most fruitful, eccentric pairings that indie rock has seen in the past few years.

As I mentioned above, if you've only heard Pinback's recorded material, you might find yourself unprepared for their sheer mastery of the live stage. While their records tend more towards quiet, moody pop (although there are definitely more upbeat songs per capita on their latest record, Blue Screen Life, than there are on any of their previous albums), the Pinback live show positively crackles with energy. The interplay between bassist Smith and guitarist Crow is amazing -- both play seemingly impossible, snaky, intertwining melody lines on their instruments while singing strange harmonies in their clear, reedy, high voices over it all. Drummer Tom Zinser (another ex-member of Three Mile Pilot) anchors it all with solid yet grooving drumming. When the quartet is firing on all cylinders, they almost resemble an otherworldly version of The Police -­ but substitute Rob Crow’s snaky, melodic playing for Andy Summers’ precise, jagged chord shards, and make Sting’s basslines about ten times more complex. Maybe The Police meet King Crimson...but warm, cuddly and extremely inviting. The group's onstage personas are slightly goofy, self-effacing and a bit shy. Crow introduced one song from the new record ("Talby") by stating "this next song is about the Swedish Death Metal band Mayhem". Considering his penchant for wearing Venom T-shirts, you know he's not kidding -- although I can’t really imagine a stranger topic for a mellow indie rock song. But then again, that's what Pinback is all about ­- writing quirky, beautiful, intriguing songs that happen to cover totally ludicrous topics.

And that's how it went -- mixing up older favorites from their first record (such as "Tripoli", "Crutch", "Shag" and "Loro") with stellar cuts from their new one (including my personal favorite, "Penelope" which has got to be the best song ever written about a pet fish, and "Seville", which continues the band's interesting tradition of naming songs after French towns), Pinback provided unadulterated aural bliss for all in attendance. Unfortunately, as this was an all-ages show, and the club was being quite sticky about set lengths, Pinback did not get to do an encore. They did, however, end their set with two choice cuts from last year's luminous Some Voices EP, one of which ("June") was satisfyingly long, much to the dismay of the soundman. With the last notes ringing out from guitar, bass and electric piano, Pinback left the stage, leaving everyone practically salivating for more.

More was to be had at the later 21+ show, of course, which I very foolishly did not attend, opting instead for pizza and bed. Silly, silly me -- now I'm going to have to wait another year for another dose of Pinback magic. Of course, there's always the new record (which does kick ass), and the live tour EP that I picked up at last year's show. But in the case of Pinback, there's really no substitute for having them on stage right in front of you.

Article and photos by Jeremy Schneyer.