Send "Rob Crow " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
 Rob Crow owes us a new Pinback LP; that much, he knows. And the shadow of the California compulsive's most famous band's unfinished work seems to loom over He Thinks He's People, Crow's fourth solo effort. People got its start as something of a warm-up for Pinback's long-awaited follow-up to 2007's Autumn of the Seraphs; a relatively modest affair, at times almost seeming as though it's saving its strength. But, while People doesn't set its sights especially high, as another showcase of Crow's multifaceted, pinprick-pristine songcraft-- and a sort of low-key sneak preview of the new Pinback LP-- it's a small success.People primarily draws from murkily precise post-grunge and morose Elliott Smith-style balladry, cut with hints of hardcore, power-pop, and prog. Crow's laconic delivery gives the LP its distinctive mark; with a calm smirk, he centers the music, allowing a blast of spazz-punk to sit comfortably alongside a bit of intricate acoustic fretwork. Cloudy and labyrinthine at times, airy and placid elsewhere, People cuts a pretty wide swath, an approach that feels a bit more mature and confident than the bending over backwards he sometimes had to do to reach the disparate genres on his earlier solo records. But one can't quite shake the feeling that a lot of these songs haven't been given the fleshing out they should have. One of People's finest moment, Either/Or-nodding self-effacer "Pat's Crabs", matches a descending strum to a downtrodden melody that, halfway through, transforms itself, its quiet desperation taking a sharp turn toward the rousing. All this happens in just 65 seconds; then it's over, onto the chiming "So Way". This could've been the record's centerpiece, melodically rich and deeply moving; instead, it's something of a tease, just on the cusp of affecting. It's rare that Crow lets you get comfortable in a track before letting it veer into the next one, which-- when coupled with its frequent tone shifts-- lends the record a somewhat sketchbook-like quality. As ever, Crow is an impressive arranger, his claustrophobic compositions offer just enough room to uncoil, and even when the songs feel dashed-off, they rarely sound it. The driving "Build" isn't much of a tune, but it gets by on sheer propulsion. And while the knottier, Pinbackier stuff like "Tranked" or "Prepare to be Mined" don't quite affix themselves to your skull the way the best of that band's output can, one can certainly see why they were up for consideration....full text |
| Pitchfork |
| Rob Crow owes us a new Pinback LP; that much, he knows. And the shadow of the California compulsive's most famous band's unfinished work seems to loom over He Thinks He's People, Crow's fourth solo effort. People got its start as something of a warm-up for Pinback's long-awaited follow-up to 2007's Autumn of the Seraphs; a relatively modest affair, at times almost seeming as though it's saving its strength. But, while People doesn't set its sights especially high, as another showcase of Crow's multifaceted, pinprick-pristine songcraft-- and a sort of low-key sneak preview of the new Pinback LP-- it's a small success. People primarily draws from murkily precise post-grunge and morose Elliott Smith-style balladry, cut with hints of hardcore, power-pop, and prog. Crow's laconic delivery gives the LP its distinctive mark; with a calm smirk, he centers the music, allowing a blast of spazz-punk to sit comfortably alongside a bit of intricate acoustic fretwork. Cloudy and labyrinthine at times, airy and placid elsewhere, People cuts a pretty wide swath, an approach that feels a bit more mature and confident than the bending over backwards he sometimes had to do to reach the disparate genres on his earlier solo records. But one can't quite shake the feeling that a lot of these songs haven't been given the fleshing out they should have. One of People's finest moment, Either/Or-nodding self-effacer "Pat's Crabs", matches a descending strum to a downtrodden melody that, halfway through, transforms itself, its quiet desperation taking a sharp turn toward the rousing. All this happens in just 65 seconds; then it's over, onto the chiming "So Way". This could've been the record's centerpiece, melodically rich and deeply moving; instead, it's something of a tease, just on the cusp of affecting. It's rare that Crow lets you get comfortable in a track before letting it veer into the next one, which-- when coupled with its frequent tone shifts-- lends the record a somewhat sketchbook-like quality. As ever, Crow is an impressive arranger, his claustrophobic compositions offer just enough room to uncoil, and even when the songs feel dashed-off, they rarely sound it. The driving "Build" isn't much of a tune, but it gets by on sheer propulsion. And while the knottier, Pinbackier stuff like "Tranked" or "Prepare to be Mined" don't quite affix themselves to your skull the way the best of that band's output can, one can certainly see why they were up for consideration....full text |
| Pastemagazine |
| It was in the early 2000s—a time where some bands still weren’t completely pasted all over the Internet—that one of my best friends went to see Pinback for the first time. He was obsessed. He had every track he could get his hands on, but he’d only known them from listening to burned, coverless CD-Rs; there weren’t websites like MySpace or Facebook, and popular magazines weren’t covering the band. To him, the members of Pinback were as faceless as Gorillaz or KISS in the ‘70s. He’s looking around the venue before the show, but he couldn’t have ever guessed the guy that seemed the most out of place—the bearded dude wearing some death-metal band’s t-shirt and huge cargo shorts—was Rob Crow, who would be playing lead guitar and singing for Pinback that night. It’s the same reason Crow can be easy to misunderstand or dismiss. Crow’s a guy whose passion for music is obvious in his approach. He’s got no problem writing insanely catchy hits (Pinback’s “Penelope”), but it gets tricky defining him when his output can be so scattered. As any of the Pinback frontman’s dedicated fans will tell you, the guy’s got his hands in a million projects. And although Crow’s seen the most success with Pinback, a lot of his claim to fame is all the other groups he’s played with: Goblin Cock, Heavy Vegetable, Physics, Optiganally Yours, Team Sleep and Thingy all lie on that list. It’s simple enough to get lost in all of this stuff—Crow’s metal-guy aesthetic, his body of work, his onstage beer-chugging tendency—and that’s why Crow doesn’t get the attention he deserves as a songwriter or arranger. Sure, at first glance, he’s a metal dude with a sense of humor (His newest album, He Thinks He’s People, seems to be a Simpsons nod), but his real gift isn’t rooted in heavy music (see: Goblin Cock). Crow’s real craft is in pop songs....full text |
| Earbuddy |
| Rob Crow's last album Living Well was a breakthrough sophomore success for the Pinback co-founder. Since the release of that album, he spent time enjoying the arrival of two new children into his family. The new album is set to be more dynamic and eclectic than Living Well as Crow draws inspiration from a variety of influences. Expect more electric, folk-pop goodness aided by that superb voice of his....full text |
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