Reviews:

From the San Francisco Bay Guardian - October 27, 1999

If you were at the Covered Wagon a few weeks ago, instead of seeing the usual Wednesday-night lineup of eardrum-busting metal punk, you could actually see Pink, a foursome that played between the hypnotic Timonium and math rock purists Jim Yoshii Pile Up. Soothing they were, but with that company, you know they didn't play soft rock. Pink offered an emo-pop that moved from a lulling slumber into explosive jams that ached wistfully with an ineffable need to rock.

A last-call lullaby on guitar set up "Drinking Song" for the accompanying keyboard's cheerless accordion sound. Within a few bars, Tim Mitchell turned up the intensity on his guitar, and the quiet uncertainty of his voice switched to an exasperated plaint.

Songs like "Seven Simple Machines" and "Strong Left" belied Pink's affinity for inverting dark guitar parts into lovely, floating laments. But then Mitchell, who probably never tucks in his button-down shirts, played a guitar jam on "Careful Not to Mention the Obvious" that could have made Sunny Day Real Estate's Jeremy Enigk sniffle.

Once their keyboardist, Andrew Simas, pulled off a Styx-ish flourish on the feel-good "Albatross" without even winking, everything was expected, and nothing was denied. Pink ended their set with a six-minute version of New Order's "Age of Consent" that was, no exaggeration, nothing short of sublime. (Deborah Giattina)

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