Album Review

Pinback – Information Retrieved

• 1st Nov 2012

‘Information Retrieved’ is the fifth full length from San Diego’s ‘Pinback’.

There’s not a huge amount on offer within these 10 tracks of late 90’s emo/indie pop rock. Soft, breathy vocals, murmur indistinctly atop jangly guitars and mininal lo-fi programming. While the rhythm section do their damnedest to buoy the band with some interesting drum patterns and melodic bass parts it’s not enough to save this album from mediocrity. The lyrics are lacklustre and the delivery lazy. The sum of these parts comes across somewhere between the soundtrack to a Dawson’s Creek episode that never made it past the cutting room floor and Ben Gibbard’s demo outtakes collection.

The production is persistently dated with little dynamic or energy throughout the album. The guitars in particular are clunky and devoid of any warmth or drive that could bring these tracks to life. The pace of the record does pick up slightly midway during ‘His Phase’ and ‘Diminished’ with both tracks showing slightly stronger writing skills and a more determined approach to arrangement but it really isn’t enough to create a memorable collection.

This is only going to appeal to established fan’s of the band’s back catalogue and does nothing to further establish the band as a serious player within the already crowded US indie rock scene.

Venue: Information Retrieved
Support Band: Temporary Residence Records