"They [the locusts] have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon and in Greek he is called Apollyon." (Rev. 9:11, RSV).

I had my first crush when I was 4 years old. That means that I have had my heart broken - on a routine basis - for the past 23 years.

While women have been a source of constant sorrow, music has been a source of constant solace.

My love affair with music has never been marred by infighting, deceit, bitter recriminations or otherwise.

In some sense music, and its musicians, have been far better friends, lovers or relations than any woman.

Which means that, in some sense, Rob Crow has been a far better friend, lover and relation than any woman.

As such, Rob Crow and his cohort in Pinback, Armistead "Zach" Burwell Smith IV, have again managed to dulcify me with their dulcet tones. And the release of their latest album could not have come sooner; in fact, its release eerily coincided with my most recent heartbreak.

While nothing on the album can touch "Penelope" (from Blue Screen Life), or "Tripoli" (from their eponymous debut), there are some real highlights on Summer in Abaddon and - on the whole - it is a better listen than their previous release, the Offcell EP.

I mean, "Fortress" rocks my ass pretty hard, but the aforementioned "Penelope" made me dance so maniacally that I cut my big, bald head on the ceiling fan and then fell, breaking my bed frame!

One can see Pinback's "studio" in the tray image of their Offcell release, and it is magnificant, particularly in comparision to my "studio." Summer in Abaddon, like their previous offerings, was recorded in Pinback's own homemade studios (Zach's backroom and Rob's bedroom). This is simply amazing as the audio quality of Summer in Abaddon is clean, crisp and near-perfect. The audio is better, in fact, than that of Rob's previous band Heavy Vegetable - and they recorded in a real studio!

On a closing note, the funniest moment on Summer in Abaddon is "AFK;" which seems to take a bite from Kenny Loggins' "I'm Alright (Theme from Caddyshack)." What's even funnier is that those jag-offs over at Pitchfork think that this is an "outraged punk" song! LOL, WTF?

Rating: 4