Pinback’s 1999 debut album, This Is a Pinback CD, is a beautiful album gently folded together with fluffy melodies that float alongside light and whispery two-part harmonies and intriguing, thoughtfully picked, shimmering guitars. Because of these qualities, it is a perfect album for a morning where you want to wake up gently. And it is also my suggested pairing for Kasey’s oatmeal pancake recipe.
Pinback consists of the San Diego-based duo Armistead Burwell Smith IV and Rob Crow. Although This is a Pinback CD is the duo’s first album, it probably isn’t the best place to start if you are new to the band as it isn’t their most consistently solid album (instead I recommend starting with either Blue Screen Life or Summer in Abaddon). Nonetheless, if you are already familiar with and enjoy the duo’s other albums, you’ll find a lot to love here. Indeed, the album’s five strongest tracks “Tripoli,” “Loro,” “Crutch,” “Versailles,” and “Rousseau” are worth the price of the album alone (which isn’t intended to suggest that they are the only worthwhile tunes on the album). Somewhat ironically, This Is a Pinback CD doesn’t seem to be presently available in CD format. Still, you can download the album from Amazon or iTunes in MP3 format.
Head back to eating/sf to read Kasey’s recipe for oatmeal pancakes.
