Systems Officer is the solo guise of Armistead Burwell Smith IV, the prolific mult-instrumentalist songwriter and founding member of Pinback and Three Mile Pilot. Conceived and recorded between breaks in the ever busy Pinback recording and touring schedule, Systems Officer's Underslept is five years in the making and it's something that shows. Far more than just a toss away side project, Systems Officer is just as good of a band as Pinback is and Underslept is just as good as anything his main band has recorded.
Moody and hazy, almost as if it were a long drawn out dream, Underslept is a weary, hallucinatory record that slowly winds it's way through the songs. Harmonic and almost creepy, Underslept is the sort of record that will leave you searching for Ghost Hunters or a priest. It's a spooky, mildly depressing record that kind of reminds one of Pinback meets Death Cab For Cutie. With that said, Systems Officer are clearly in touch with their inner emo kidd but mix it up with enough indie rock to disguise what the album really is full of...emotional turmoil. Don't get me wrong this is a good record that's like a full cycle of lucid dreaming brought to life but it's the sort of thing that would make Ben Gibbard blush.
From the nearly upbeat, "Quan," to the piano led rhythms of "Shape Shifter," Undersleptis a rollercoaster ride of melodic, introspective, and abstract pop music that's like aural Ambien. You might not need to dedicate a full eight hours to let Systems Officer make it's mark, but the band will leave you preoccupied with the way it goes about things. Undersleptis a great record that has allowed Armistead to showcase his songwriting talents, voice, and bass playing in an almost lazy fashion but still shows how capable he is on his own. Undersleptproves itself to be a very viable and well rounded outing and here's hoping that Pinback goes on break more often so that Systems Officer has more time to record.
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