When you search for info on The Living Pins for the first time, their history from the 90s can be surprising. Though not exactly a well-kept secret, they were deliberately low-profile in the Austin indie music scene of that time. Carrie Clark (Sixteen Deluxe) and Pam Peltz (Ursa Major) formed The Living Pins in 1996 as an auxiliary sonic outlet to perform acoustic covers of songs that were outside of the scope of their respective touring bands.
Not active during the aughts and most of the teens, they started playing again in 2019, but with a different focus on original amplified material. Freaky Little Monster Children (2021), their first EP, was an archetypal product of the pandemic lockdown. Pam and Carrie played all of the instruments and Jeff Copas (Sixteen Deluxe) produced the session in the empty lobby of an East Austin warehouse. Matt Devine (Permanent Green Light) added an extended guitar solo to “Jaguar” remotely from LA.
By 2022, The Living Pins had recorded two more singles, “Oh Yeah” and “Chateau”, at The Bubble Studios in Austin, with Chris “Frenchie” Smith (Sixteen Deluxe) producing and Claire Hamilton and Rich Malley on bass and drums.
As a 2023 follow up, The Living Pins returned to The Bubble with Frenchie producing the Let It Be So EP. Joey Shuffield (Fastball) and Bobby Daniel (Alejandro Escovedo) joined them on drums and bass.
The Roxy Unicorn LP was recorded in three sessions at The Bubble with Frenchie at the helm, between 2024 and 2026, with the current line up of Bobby Daniel and Kristy McInnis (The Bluebonnets) on bass and drums. The LP tracks, “Gold” and “108”, were released in 2025 and the newest single, “Roxy Unicorn”, debuts on August 27th. The full LP is currently available as a pre-order on Bandcamp and will stream in full on November 13th to coincide with the limited vinyl release of Roxy Unicorn on Flak Records.
The Living Pins are also known for delivering a Christmas song every year. The practice began in 2021 and was inspired by the 1960s Beatles’ holiday recordings for their fan club. “Christmas Tree” (2022) and “Christmas Here To Stay” (2024) were released as official singles. The other holiday songs have been released under the radar, but can be found on The Living Pins’ YouTube channel Christmas playlist.