The problem with the latest Pinback album is that it is just so Pinback-y. Having a distinct sound is never a detriment, but the band is so committed to maintaining the status quo that Autumn of the Seraphs, while musically competent, is rather lifeless. The album is a loping, melancholy affair that comes complete with Rob Crow’s strained croon, bubbling mid-tempo hooks, winding prog passages and miniature pop epics. There’s the chugging, off-kilter pseudo-emo, the synthy slow dances, the almost-piano-ballads and the intricate polyrhythmic guitar and keyboard riffs that make Pinback fit on the Touch and Go label. Yet despite all the seeming diversity, it all sounds the same. Not only that, it sounds like all the other records Pinback has put out, and like all the other bands that the members have ever played in — Heavy Vegetable, Three Mile Pilot, The Ladies and Thingy. The members of the band may be prolific, turning out tour EPs, singles and side-projects with alarming frequency, but when it comes to bringing something to the table, this duo is pinned back to their past.