Pin Stripe Brain Self-Produced

Nick Binkley

By Leo Durham

The Pin Stripe Brain concept is all about singer/songwriter/guitarist and banker Nick Binkley's observations of the workplace mentality of white-collar professionals. Despite his analogy of pinstripes as a metaphor for corporate prison garb, his songs are generally hopeful in the straightforward story-telling tradition of Jim Croce and Harry Chapin.

Pin Stripe Brain features Binkley's unlikely backup band, Street Dogs, a group of well-known Russian musicians that he has know of almost twenty years.

Binkley kicks off the collection with the infectious autobiographical title cut. "Leave Us For Awhile" has a loping, Buddy Holly-esque groove, The lovely "Heart Full of Stone" displays his ability with tender love ballads. "which Way's L.A." reflects on a longing for more innocent days. The poignant, violin-laced "Blue, Red and White Songs" is a commentary on the decline of Western cultural dominance and American values, something a banker might well have a far better handle on than the rest of us.