Rob Crow

Living Well

BY Nick PatchPublished Feb 13, 2007

Pinback’s main calling card has always been their clinical precision. It follows, then, that singer Rob Crow has typically used his myriad side-projects to explore his wackier impulses. However, Living Well, his fourth release under his own name, doesn’t veer too far from Crow’s trademark tight-rope melodies, and that’s a good thing; he does clean-cut clockwork better than almost anyone else on the indie pop horizon. What sets Living Well apart are the lyrics — where Crow is mostly absent from Pinback’s pleasantly vague narratives, the subject matter here is intensely personal. The record documents Crow’s courtship of his now-wife and the birth of their first child, both of whom are photographed along with an extensively bearded Crow in the cover art and liner notes, a stark contrast to the bleak anonymity of Pinback’s usual art. With more Pinback material due in 2007, Living Well could be regarded as a stopgap; it’s not. Its undeniable intimacy distinguishes it within Crow’s notable catalogue.
(Temporary Residence)

Latest Coverage