The partnership of Armistead Burwell Smith IV and Rob Crow is at the heart of some of the most complex, postmodern indie pop happening on the West Coast. In the first few days of 1998, Smith (of San Diego-based Three Mile Pilot) and Crow (of Thingy and Heavy Vegetable) formed a part-time recording project under the name Pinback.

Pinback made their Touch & Go debut in fall 2004 with Summer in Abaddon, which saw the band members continue slowly to push themselves a bit further with complex song structures while maintaining their indie pop sensibilities. Two years later, the band issued Nautical Antiques, a collection of rarities and B-sides spanning from 1998 to 2001. Their second album for Touch & Go, Autumn of the Seraphs, followed in 2007. Though it would be five years before Pinback followed up, their 2012 album, Information Retrieved, found them easily settling into their melodic groove.