As it turned out, what I took as an
offhand suggestion turned out to be an extremely generous compliment. Upon my
first listen, I was instantly drawn into Pinback’s gentle, melody-driven
compositions, and was delighted to see this duo effectively and intelligently
compose pieces that wove bass parts together. Yet the song that cemented me as
a Pinback fan was not one featuring dual bass work, but rather an arrangement
just a hair less eccentric: a bass and a baritone guitar, the two main forces at
work in the darkly delicious “Bbtone.”
Though the title is simply atruncated combination of the two instruments that drive it, the actual tune
shows far more complexity and effort than its name implies.
Multi-instrumentalist Rob Crow takes the rhythm in the song, laying out a
winding background on his baritone guitar. This allows his partner in crime Zach
Smith to tease from his four strings gorgeous yet brooding phrases, building
complicated chords across open-position intervals and adding a bright bass
harmony to the vocals.
The two string parts in “Bbtone” are
tailored to fit together like pieces of a suit, Zach dominating the higher
register while Rob focuses on the lower. Above a programmed beat that ticks
repetitively like an old clock, these two instrumentalists react to each
other’s parts like well-worn gears, Zach’s colorful trebles bouncing and
turning with Rob’s guttural picking. This is capped by the duo’s interlocking
vocal parts, Rob finishing his phrases just as Zach chimes in. The composition places
each person in juxtaposition, their separate vocals conversing, telling two
sides of the same story their instruments strive to paint in music.
Between the wavering strings grooves
and the incessant metronomic beat, there is a strange sense of tedium bubbling
over in the instrumentation, which is heavily reflected in the lyrics. Lines
like “Steadily we climb down / Step into a hidden room / Searchin' for another out” reflect a languid movement to the song that suddenly becomes
frantic with the lines “The walls close in around me / Old habits fade far from me.” This changing pace continues throughout the song, reinforced by
the two separate voices: Zach’s vocals maintain the detached, slow rhythm of a
person resigned to his circumstance, while Rob’s rush through phrases at a
dizzying speed, as if searching for a way out.
The strange but extremely effective
alternation of mood in “Bbtone,” built on the band’s alternating vocals,
fortifies the theme of futility that also pervades the lyrics. The song
proffers a tale of suffering built on the ineffectiveness of change: there is a
nihilistic ennui in the image of a “Bucket and a shovel / on a sand dune / Building castles / Knocking them down,”
commenting on the pointlessness of attempting to alter the world. This is
further reflected in the line “Forever pushing / Sisyphus would know,”
referencing the mythical figure whose eternal toil is always for naught. In
“Bbtone,” Pinback uses gorgeous composition to breathe life into the banal
nature of a life without meaning; never before have the celebratory and the
disaffected been such close bedfellows, in music or anywhere.
Besides being a breathtakingly
beautiful piece of music, “Bbtone” is a piece of art that manages in so many
ways to mix dichotomous ideas. Between the unique instrumental approach, the
alternating vocals that are at-odds in sound and pace, and the thematic
collision of two ideas utterly unlike each other, Pinback has enough material
for two songs here. Yet, their intelligent approach to composition manages to
sew them into one beautiful, harmonious piece, reflecting the conflicts of
being human, of being able to approach the same situation, the same life, with
both love and loathing.
With all this in mind, its become
increasingly clear to me that Pinback is an artist that deserves my utmost
respect and attention. The swirling, cyclical strings of “Bbtone” keep my head
spinning in delight, imparting both beauty and boredom while using a sound
palate that is after my own heart. I am truly grateful for that kind comparison
of my band’s music to this monster act, and I have no doubt they will continue
to influence my own writing as I continue on this two-bass journey that is Hiss the Villain.
(Speaking of which, check out my band Hiss the Villain through the links below!)
