"Something Old, Something New: Robin Trower, The Pin-Ups"

The Pin Ups is a rather new band formed of the wreckage of a couple of popular Seattle-area bands. Guitarists Dan Kempthorne and Steve Ross were members of Green Apple Quick Step, while drummer Jason Finn was a member of pop flashes The Presidents of the United States. Dejha, formerly of 3-D S&M, holds down the groups vocals and Nick Rhinehart plays bass.

The group has been rocking mainstay Seattle clubs like the OK Hotel and the Sit-n-Spin, but has recently been receiving rave reviews for their CD Backseat Memoirs. The band’s retro rock style has been compared to Elvis Costello, David Bowie and The Pretenders. Dejha is a truly unique vocalist (check out the bands MP3 on Good-Ink Records’ site) and the band is a tight group of Emerald City rock scene veterans.(Wayne Ellis)

The Pin-Ups are chrono-tricksters, 1950s punks playing 1980s girl rock with a 1990s-Seattle-style twist. The ten tunes on Backseat Memories really highlight the band's impressive range, both stylistically and emotionally -- and while such a wide range can sometimes doom a band to writing bland stylistic knock-offs instead of groovy tunes, no such fate seems to have befallen The Pin-Ups. This is largely thanks to the dynamic presence of lead singer Dejha, whose full, forceful voice keeps things energized and interesting. "Narrow Escape" is a full-on Blondie meets the Rolling Stones rocker. "Waltz for Lucy" is a slow, pretty, countrified ballad. Weird guitar licks, mysterious background sounds and pounding drums make "Poolside" a keeper. Look to "Heaven for You Too" for some cute, sweet, rockabilly action. While not every song on Backseat Memoirs is a gem, none of them suck, and overall this is an impressive, memorable debut. (I.B.)

The Pin-Ups was a Seattle based Rock and Roll band with Punk sensibility. This band of All-Stars (Jason Finn of PUSA, Dan Kempthorne and Steve Ross of The Briefs, Nick Rhinehart of The Chauffer) was fronted by Dejha Colantuono from 1998-2001. During this period the band put out an album entitled "Backseat Memoirs," a collection of songs written and/or co-written by Dejha. The band put on an amazing live show as well as producing the record. Let's all hope for a reunion someday!

Young girls have years of cigarette smoking ahead of them before they can even come close to Rotten Apples frontwoman Dejha Colantuono's husky delivery. (And really, I'd say get on the patch now anyway, because Colantuono comes from a musical family. That smoky aura is in her blood more than in a pair of blackened lungs.) At the same time sweet as a welcomed come-on and prickly as a kick out of bed when the sun comes up, this woman can say more in a couple of lines than most singers can in an entire album. The rest of the band is equally moody in their delivery, but they keep most of the music on the up-and-up, scuffing their power pop with a bit of punk snarl.