Summer in Abaddon

Artist: Pinback
Label: Touch & Go Records
Category: Music

Average customer rating:

Media: LP Record
Number Of Discs: 1

UPC: 036172093717
EAN: 0036172093717
ASIN: B0002ZYDL0

Release Date: 2004-10-12

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Tracks:

Non Photo-Blue
Sender
Syracuse
Bloods on Fire
Fortress
This Red Book
Soaked
3X0
Yellow Ones
Afk

Similar Items:

Blue Screen Life
Pinback
Nautical Antiques
Offcell
Some Voices

Customer Reviews:

Celebrated Summer.......2007-04-01

Listening to a Pinback record is about the easiest thing you'll ever do. Their mellow but complex songs are a soundtrack to the working man with a brain and two ears-- soothingly propulsive, powered by choppy guitar lines and fat, hollow-log bass, salted with tasty piano ostinato, and backed by singer Rob Crow, who has a singing voice that makes him sound like he's either constantly drugged or engrossed in something. The guitar tones are perfectly rounded and spongy, and sit chiming and ticking in the middle of everything as if soaking up melody.

Abaddon ("the place of destruction" in the Bible) is a reference to hell. The sleeve art illustrates the listener's colorful descent into an underground bunker beneath a desert at the onset, and their reemergence at the other end. In the complete absence of musical themes like dissonant triads and soul-rending howls to mirror a descent into damnation, we're reminded that hell takes many forms. Sometimes things are destroyed just because they fall apart. This is somehow more fittingly sinister than heavy metal's typical depiction of overt terror and cruelty. The record chronicles a lengthy depression or period of suffering, and the narrator's efforts to come out unscathed-- something fairly universal to humanity.

Like most of Pinback's back catalog, "Summer in Abaddon" is a head-bobbing collection of cleverly disguised lullabies coated with aural superglue. You'll hear the bass riff in "Fortress" mirroring your walk up the escalator, or the sludgy plod of "Non-Photo Blue" following your fingers through yet another ignored forum post ("she's posting all the time, but the boards are down / it's a burned-out building"). The deceptively simple rhythm of "This Red Book" will haunt your subconscious for months.

They should be exalted as the true masters of rhythmic guitar pop. Nearly everything worth commenting on about Pinback arises from their perfect knack for sewing hooks through a heartbeat metronome pulse. Endless rhythmic variations are shelves for the notes and rests to sit on. Pick any Pinback tune at random to listen to. You'll swear you're listening to something human yet mechanical at the same time. Like the endless tick of a fine Swiss watch, the inner workings are ludicrously complex, but the outward result looks simply elegant. "Summer in Abaddon" sees Pinback at the pinnacle of their talents.

Continues to refine .......2006-10-04

Some of the bands tightest work yet, the graceful combination of catchy hooks, playful vocals, and progressive thrust all under a plate of subverted, usually brilliant pop songwriting proves why this band deserves the devoted underground following they have garnered, but begs the question when they will ever actually be accepted by mainstream radio. With such a fine appetite for catchy intelligence, it is a shame the market has not catered more to what has been offered by Pinback, especially by now in the bands continual refinement. Only a few songs bare the less personal, slightly generic mark that bruised some earlier releases; this band more then most around their scene does have quite a unique sound despite the traditional outfit, and thankfully have come to favor their inspired approach with even more body-swaying, smart devotion.

Pinback - Summer in Abaddon.......2006-09-18

This album starts off well.

Really well.

In fact, by three songs into my first listen, I though I had discovered my new favorite album. I recalled the good reviews I'd read online that prompted me to buy my first Pinback album and felt incredibly fortunate that I'd followed their advice.

Those feelings, unfortunately, rarely last.

Imagine my dissapointment when I realized that by track eight I was already having trouble just getting myself to pay attention. Certainly, this wasn't the same band I was listening to just a few songs ago. I found myself thinking: Where is the energy? Where's the variety, the engaging vocals, the toe-tapping instrumentation? I mean, this album was the first time I'd ever heard Pinback, but I felt like I had been somehow misslead by the first three songs.

On subsequent listens I realized the album loses a good part of its charm somewhere between Bloods On Fire and This Red Book. The middle part of the album is chock-full of middle-of-the-road instrumentation [compared to the pulsating energy of Sender and Syracuse, or the swirling melodies of Non Photo-Blue], with engaging hooks as rare as they are short [i.e. the "Stop, it's too late!" bit in Fortress, which just makes the rest of the song pale in comparison]. In a way the songs become undistinguishable by the end. The repetition would easily be more enjoyable if the band threw in a suitably interesting bit or two, but instead when they try to pull this off, like in Bloods On Fire, it sounds too forced and just doesn't fit.

Personally, I like the lyrics. They are mysterious and ambiguous but not too abstract. Terrin Durfey's voice, while distinguished and engaging in the first few songs, gets somehow pushed back and becomes just another instrument by the end of the album. The whole album falls into the background and only reappears somewhat by the final two songs. AFK tries to recapture the passion of the album's opener, but ends up just tripping over itself in the process.

In summation, an consistant, honest effort, but don't be misslead by the first few songs, it is by no means the perfect album it's made out to be. 6/10.

You will NOT be disappointed. .......2006-08-31

Album is good from beginning to end. Music this good deserves to be listened to endlessly. Older albums have some of the best songs by them. Please check out Rob Crow, his contributions to this band seem to be the life blood of the music. My favorite songs are the ones he has written. "sun froze" killer track.

I'll spend a Summer in Musical Heaven thanks to this album.......2006-06-19

Patience is a virtue when delving into a lot of Pinback's work but SIA has more ferocity than any of Pinbacks earlier efforts (except maybe Offcell EP) and is an easy casting-off point for new fans of the group. The third full album by Pinback is simply stunning. With more "user friendly" tracks like "Fortress" and "Non-Photo Blue" alongside songs like "This Red Book" and "Bloods on Fire" (which are more akin to the tracks of Blue Screen Life and Pinback), Summer in Abaddon is a pleasant journey into an emotional realm consisting of pain and longing previously left un-touched by Pinback's often technical or even methodical style.

The tracks flow into one another flawlessly, with the softer and the more upbeat songs placed at appropriate intervals, all building to the climactic, drum-driven "AFK": screaming at the listener to "remember the summer in Abaddon". But such a remarkable moment is hard to forget. My only complaint about the album is that now I have to wait for Pinback's next move...

Music CD:

Music CD

Music CD

Music CD

Tejano Super Hits, Vol. 1 ~ Various Artists

Varios Artistas en Vivo ~ Various Artists

20th Aniversario Luna Music ~ Various Artists

Summer in Abaddon ~ Pinback

Airs D'Opéras

Straight from the Heart ~ Sweet N' Jazzy

El Mar No Cesa ~ Heroes del Silencio

Romance en Piano: El Dia Que Me Quieras ~ Various Artists

Lo Mejor De Los Mejores ~ Fito Paez

Las 32 Mas Grandes de Andy Montanez ~ Andy Monta%C3%B1ez