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Rob Crow

Living Well

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by jimtarnation on 08/16/2007

Do you ever wonder if one half of the sandwich really needs the other half? Does the peanut butter really NEED the jelly? Does the ham really NEED the cheese? And, in my case, do fake tofu chicken deli slices really NEED the hummus & ajvar (hey, listen, I put on my shoes just like everyone else, one ice-dipped platinum shoehorn at a time)? Listening to this record, I’m inclined to ask, does Rob Crow really NEED Armistead Burwell Smith IV? While Living Well is a slight departure from Pinback, Crow & A.B.S. IV’s slightly more well known project, it does feature a lot of what Crow does best, but without the bass leads that mark most Pinback songs, and without the trademark overlapping but rarely intersecting vocal melodies. This departure from the formula is sometimes more refreshing and sometimes less interesting in songwriting structure, but the variation of the instrumentation (including the welcome addition of the banjo to many songs) aims to make up for the lack of kinetic energy…or maybe it doesn’t. Maybe it’s just a little more sober and a little more mature.

The loss of the serpentine overlapping vocal structure that, frankly, defines Pinback is obviously not here on Living Well, but it gives Crow the room to add harmony to the vocals that does intersect with the vocal melody. Not to say that this is a Beach Boys record, far from, but there are interesting moments of vocal interplay on some songs, and it’s always catchy. I think that in everything Crow does, I doubt he can do something not totally stuffed with hooks, and there are just too many little vocal melodies & quick guitar riffs in these songs to doubt. The banjo provides some of the melodic glue as well, very ingeniously paired with a fuzzed out keyboard line underneath on standout track “If Wade Would Call.” The guitar takes over as the lead on most of these tracks, but the occasional rolling bouncy dark ode (another Pinback staple), Crow’s falsetto augmented by accordian and bass, shows up as well.

What I’d guess is the album’s single, “I Hate You, Rob Crow” (There are 2 versions of this song on the record, one called Single Version & one called Album Version), Crow takes a trip into what could easily be late 90’s indie rock, an era of Grunge…without all that grunge! Quickly propelled, very energetic & riff-y, but without the screaming & distorted guitars (& clocking in at a lean 1:13), fits as the “single” on Living Well, because it literally doesn’t sound like any other song on the record…but then again, no songs on this record sound like each other. They all share a few common threads, some new to die-hards of Crow’s other work, and some new to any listener, really. These aren’t chord propelled songs, they’re note propelled and kinetic in more than just tempo, they’ve got energy in the motion of the melodic structure. Not bright and bouncy, but interesting and frequently dark. And, just in case I didn’t drive this one home yet, super f***ing catchy.

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My Mixtape I Hate You, Rob Crow (Single Version) [MP3]

Album Details

Year: 2007
Label: Temporary Residence Limited
Producer: Rob Crow
Musicians: Rob Crow

Tracklist

1	Bam Bam
2	I Hate You, Rob Crow (Album Version)
3	Taste
4	Over Your Heart
5	Up
6	Chucked
7	Burns
8	Liefeld
9	Leveling
10	Ring
11	Focus
12	If Wade Would Call
13	No Sun
14	I Hate You, Rob Crow (Single Version)

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