For many of us oldsters, Saturday mornings presented a near-perfect arrangement: Wake up, turn on the TV, adjust the rabbit ears and disappear into a cartoon vortex until sensible adults reclaimed the airwaves. The Living Pins’ “A And B” taps into the nostalgic mystique of that now-archaic ritual.
“It was possibly the best moment of the week—I especially liked Scooby-Doo, Josie And The Pussycats and The Monkees,” says frontwoman Pam Peltz, proudly dating herself to the pre-cable era. “Inevitably, the party would come to an end, and some sports or other grown-up stuff would take over the airwaves. The good stuff doesn’t last forever—but there’s always next Saturday morning.”
Peltz and Carrie Clark have been weaving their intermittent web of impermanence and anticipation as the Living Pins since they first met as employees at an Austin co-op in the mid-1990s. After a string of EPs and singles, the pair is prepping the release of Roxy Unicorn (Flak), an album that implausibly filters Texas psychedelia through the sheen of ’70s FM radio.
The Living Pins come with plenty of Austin history between them. Peltz led alt-rock trio Ursa Major and once produced lo-fi legend Daniel Johnston. Clark fronted ’90s shoegaze faves Sixteen Deluxe, who were eventually inducted into the Austin Music Hall Of Fame. Roxy Unicorn was produced by Sixteen Deluxe guitarist Chris “Frenchie” Smith, another longtime scene fixture.
Roxy Unicorn is out November 13. In the meantime, we’re proud to premiere the Living Pins’ “A And B.”
—Hobart Rowland
