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monica and i drove through an unbelievably crazy storm to watch pinback at a sold-out north star bar a few weeks ago. it was totally worth almost getting blown off the ben franklin bridge. after dropping monica off at the door, parking a few blocks away and cautiously walking back (metroplex matt had gotten mugged there the previous weekend), we entered the show about halfway through pleaseeasaur’s set.

performing with half-singing, half-languorous spoken word over what sounded like keyboard-driven karaoke music, pleaseeasaur wore ridiculous costumes that included a giant furry dog, 80s workout guy, hair metal guy and my favorite, a pizza chef costume that had a dummy attached on either side. and the dummies were dressed like pizza chefs too! the songs were funny, if not sophomoric nods to dog poop, the gym, the prom, noodle bowls and pizza delivery. it was one of those things that was perfect for the length of time we saw (twenty minutes), but any longer and we would have dismissed the guy as pure schlock.

i was lukewarm about seeing pinback. i like their records a lot but i couldn’t imagine it being anything but a sleepy performance since the songs are so mellow. well, one of the most surprising things about seeing pinback live is just how much they rock. the songs are sped up, the five piece sounds incredibly full and rob crowe plays with an almost punk mentality. at one point he pulled his hair down and over the middle of his face, misfits style. classic.

they played a lot of songs from blue screen life, which pleased the sweaty masses, myself included. i lost monica early as she’d gone to dance with a bunch of people near the front of the stage. meanwhile i was left to bob my head and sing along with the other wallflowers in attendance. zack smith carries a lot more of the songs than i thought he did. from the records, i always assumed a lot of the layers came from guitars but it’s actually the bass that pushes them along. it was really impressive.

in fact, the only things that bothered me were the heat (and after the cold rain we’d been experiencing it wasn’t entirely unwelcome), the smoke and the material that i wasn’t crazy about to begin with, like the title track from summer of abbadon. other than that, it’s probably the best show i’ve seen so far this year.