The Wiltern is this old beautiful theatre from the 30’s with ornate décor and a historic feel. What other way to class it up even more with a good old indie-pop staple; San Diego’s Pinback. This L.A. show is the last stop to cap off their six-week tour in support of their fourth album Autumn of the Seraphs (Touch and Go).
At 9:10pm, out come Rob Crow, Zach Smith, and the three other dudes that rotate through the band. Expecting to see some mountain man facial hair, Crow has his beard in control and more groomed than in most of the new promotional photos. The venue is roughly two-thirds full as they start their 16-song set. Starting off with one of the new ones “Bouquet,” Crow and Smith belt, “You taste my tears/We share our souls” in their normal harmonious fashion. Being as this is the last date on the tour, you can tell they are a bit tired, so their harmony is a little off. They do pull off their yell/scream harmony that they (and Mates of State) do so well.
In between the mindless L.A. chatter I hear around me (”OMG, they HAVE to play that song, you know, about the birds or something. Do they only have Coors Light? What’s with these new songs? WOOOO!”), I can still appreciate the beautiful, melodic bass driven sweetness that is Pinback. Smith is like the Les Claypool or Geddy Lee of indie rock. He’s that good of a bass player, as well as enjoyable to watch. A lot of the tunes entertaining us this evening are from Autumn of the Seraphs; “From Nothing to Nowhere,” “Barnes,” “Torch,” and my favorite off the new one “Good to Sea.” Feeling a little lukewarm about the song “Walters” off of Seraphs, this song performed live is way more pleasing. It’s a slow build to a beautifully full rock song. “They said it was amazing” is the main lyric from this song…and it rings true with this song performed live. Crow gets so into it, he even does the rock ‘n roll stance: legs spread far apart, head bobbing up and down, hard strumming, screaming into the mic. Love it.
Intermixed with all these new tracks, they throw in the good old tunes that make us love this band: “Penelope,” “Silent Fortress,” “Syracuse.” Along with a four-song encore, this is a pretty solid hour and a half of musical satisfaction.
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