The Pernice Brothers Albums (6)
What The Critics Say
Joe Pernice and his compatriots have taken one step forward and one step back on the fifth studio album from the Pernice Brothers, Live a Little, and both moves have served them well. Live a Little finds the band teaming up again with Michael Deming, the producer who worked with Joe Pernice during the latter days of the Scud Mountain Boys and was behind the board for Overcome by Happiness, the Pernice Brothers' debut. Live a Little lacks the gloss of Discover a Lovelier You or the harder surfaces of Yours, Mine & Ours (both of which were produced by Thom Monahan), but it also feels considerably fuller and more mature than the quiet, tentative texture of the debut. Live a Little sounds more open and roomy than the past few Pernice Brothers efforts, while at the same time reflecting the lusher pop sound the band has embraced since 1998; a bit of the gingerbread has been stripped away, but the sound is still classic-style pop at its most delicious, buoyed by Deming's subtle string charts. And while there's a bit less of the "sunshine pop for a cloudy day" mood of their previous albums on Live a Little, Joe Pernice remains one of the finest songwriters at work today, and these 11 new songs (plus a remake of "Grudge F***" from the final Scud Mountain Boys album) find him in superb form -- the melodies are intelligent but hooky, with the touches of tart sophistication never getting in the way of their sweetness, and his lyrics walk a glorious tightrope between the classic adolescent obsessions of rock (i.e., girls) and the more troubling concerns of adulthood (i.e., women). And as usual, Joe's collaborators deliver the goods, especially Peyton Pinkerton on guitar and James Wallborne on keyboards, playing these songs with the passion and skill they richly deserve. No one in indie pop has consistently delivered such impressive results in the new millennium as Joe Pernice, and Live a Little makes it clear he isn't done making superb music anytime soon. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
'Discover a Lovelier You'
Release Date 6/13/2005
Tracks 13
Label One Little Indian
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The name Pernice Brothers on an album conjures up certain things in your mind: clever and heartfelt lyrics, Joe Pernice's whispered croon (the best since Colin Blunstone), sugar-sweet and direct melodies, as well as sophisticated arrangements and production. Along with the near-breathless anticipation that comes with the release of a new Pernice Brothers record, there's also a slight sensation of fear: you have to wonder a little -- can they keep it up? Let there be no doubts with their fifth album, because Discover a Lovelier You is near-perfect Pernice Brothers and is therefore near-perfect guitar pop. The album is less polished and slick than Yours, Mine & Ours but is more produced, with loads of care given to the sound of each song. Some new aspects to the sound pop up here and there: the new wave synths on "There Goes the Sun," the Western soundtrack harmonica on "Saddest Quo," the dueling backwards guitars at the end of "Snow" that break into the toughest-sounding guitar solo on a Brothers record. That's only the first three songs, and it continues throughout the entire record with all the sonic surprises used perfectly and adding up to perhaps their best-sounding album yet. Perhaps it is because the album was recorded in various locales around North America, but the album has the feel of variety that has been missing from previous efforts, with songs as diverse as the strummy and near bubblegummy "Dumb It Down," the austere but beautiful Hollywood ballad "My So-Called Celibate Life," the electric folk-rock of "Say Goodnight to the Lady," and the sparse electronic folk of "Pisshole in the Snow," mixed in with wonderful traditionally Pernice-sounding songs like the moody "Red Desert" and the shimmering "Amazing Glow" (a duet between Pernice and Blake Hazard). Even the instrumental title track feels like a revelation, that even without Pernice's vocals the band is almost achingly perfect. On Discover a Lovelier You, the group is at the very peak of its game. At just the right time, too, since it almost felt like the group was in danger of becoming somewhat complacent after the last record, perhaps even predictable. This record puts those concerns to rest and, between the perfect production and the genius batch of songs, makes a case for the Pernice Brothers as the best pop band on the planet. At the very least, you will be hard-pressed to discover a lovelier group, or record, in 2005. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
'Nobody's Watching/Nobody's Listening'
Release Date 1/10/2005
Tracks 17
Label One Little Indian
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
The Pernice Brothers spent much of 2004 on the road. With no new album in the foreseeable future, the band figured a live album would be a good way to keep the Pernice-loving masses satisfied, and they were right. Compiled from two shows recorded in January 2004 at New York City's Mercury Lounge, Nobody's Watching/Nobody's Listening is a stunningly recorded document of the group's live show. Joe Pernice's vocals are note-perfect and wringing with emotion; at one point he jokes to the crowd that he is giving himself an aneurysm. The band is tight, loud, and dynamic throughout -- all the things you want your power pop combos to be. A large number of the 12 songs come from the band's first album, Overcome By Happiness, and it is fascinating to hear the live band's slightly grittier take on pristine chamber pop treasures like "Clear Spot," "Crestfallen," and "Monkey Suit." The songs taken from World Won't End, like "Working Girls," "She Heightened Everything," and "Flaming Wreck," which features some incendiary guitar dueling at the climax, are full of fire and represent the peak of Pernice's songwriting so far. The live setting replaces the sheen of studio sweetness that dimmed the luster of Yours, Mine & Ours with some raw emotion on "Sometimes I Remember" and "Water Ban." They also tackle "Grudge F***" from the Scud Mountain Boys' Massachusetts LP and turn in an excellent cover of the Pretenders' "Talk of the Town." Nobody's Watching captures one of the best pop bands of the time at the height of its live powers, making this a vital purchase for Pernice fans and guitar pop fans in general. If you aren't hip to the Brothers' charms, this is a pretty good place to discover them. [The companion DVD is a treat for fans, including videos and storyboards for "Baby in Two" and "Weakest Shade of Blue" from Yours, Mine & Ours and a lengthy and quite entertaining tour diary feature.] ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
On the follow-up to The World Won't End, Joe Pernice and his band of melody makers have created another gleaming gem of intelligent, heartfelt guitar pop. Pernice possesses one of the most beautiful voices in rock music today. Think Colin Blunstone or Steve Martin of the Left Banke for comparisons. His lyrics are smart and literate, but always clear and universal. Lines like "How her hair got lost in the morning light/And her eyes as kind as the morning rain," sung in a voice that could charm the bees out of their hive, really get you right in the solar plexus. Pernice harmonizing with himself is a truly wonderful thing, like eating two ice cream cones at once on a hot summer day. The sound of the record is as smooth and shiny as the last record, perhaps a bit more rock-oriented with more uptempo tracks than one is accustomed to on a Pernice Brothers release. There are fewer arrangements and more songs that sound like a band playing its heart out (in a gracefully subdued way). The key element to their sound on this album is Peyton Pinkerton; his guitar lines are melodic, angular, and often New Order-esque -- which you may not expect from such a resolutely American indie pop band, but remember that Pernice memorably covered "Leave Me Alone" on the underrated Chappaquiddick Skyline record. Every song on Yours, Mine & Ours is top-notch, but a few stand out as instant classic material. The aforementioned "Sometimes I Remember" is perhaps the apex of the disc; the attention to sonic detail is stunning, as are the female backing vocals. "Blinded By the Stars" has wonderfully atmospheric stretches of instrumental grandeur, "Judy" is a dreamy ballad with lovely vocals and a warm cascade of strings and gently plucked guitars, and "How to Live Alone" is a midtempo weeper with really intricate and fun backing vocals that sound lifted straight from a Sandpipers record. Yours, Mine & Ours is a truly grand record, another in the string of classic releases by Joe Pernice. The kind of record you want to start over again from the beginning as soon as it ends. The kind of record that never lands the band responsible on the cover of magazines but will end up on critics' lists at the end of the year. The kind of record fans of intelligent pop music played with real emotion should purchase. Immediately. ~ Tim Sendra, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
So maybe Joe Pernice isn't crazy. He spent his time between the release of the Pernice Brothers' Overcome By Happiness and The World Won't End by issuing Chappaquiddick Skyline and Big Tobacco under separate aliases, claiming that the material on those weren't from his top drawer and that the good stuff was being saved for the second Pernice Brothers record. Most listeners just rolled their eyes, figuring it to be yet another case of a musician's eccentricities and inability to recognize their own talents. After all, those "interim" releases did more than merely maintain fan attention; they might not have been as polished or perfected as Overcome By Happiness, but they were chipped from the same precious ore. So here's the payoff, proving that he was being accurate after all, if a twinge modest. With much of the support from Overcome staying on board with a couple of relative newcomers (this lineup has been in place over two years), The World Won't End is every bit on par with its predecessor, if not an improved effort thanks to the increased importance of those Pernice surrounds himself with. This is a record made by a band, not a singer/songwriter aided by seasoned session hands. The sound is as lush, melodic, and clean as ever (not sterile), with sweet arrangements standing at the polar opposite of lyrics dealing with sinking relationships and pesky emotional ghosts. This is all-purpose pop; you can hum merrily along to the melodies or sink yourself in the lyrics and wonder where everything went wrong. Or both. Regardless of where you're at, you won't lose sight of Pernice's voice, one that most vocalists would cross the river Styx to possess. Most indicative song title: "Endless Supply." That seems to be the case. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
'Overcome by Happiness'
Release Date 5/19/1998
Tracks 12
Label Sub Pop
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
It's probably best, when it comes to this LP, that only ardent alt-country fans knew who the Scud Mountain Boys were, much less bought the band's three LPs. Singer/songwriter Joe Pernice split up the Scuds in order to trade in the whole genre for this new, semi-solo direction: aside from his continued ability to compose indelible tunes and thoughtful relationship lyrics, there's no Scud Mountain to be scaled in this new province of Pernice. Guess what? In gaining a new start, he blows away his back catalog. Though Pernice's voice seems drenched in melancholic syrup, and it could stand to be a little more powerful, it's got the well-worn sincerity of someone who's a tad tired of falling well short of romantic revelry -- or at least the kind that lasts. And when this self-professed loner reveals that he and close collaborator Thom Monahan wanted to make "a bit of a downer," one can only respond "mission accomplished," and well-done. For Pernice actually makes his minor despondency beautiful; burbling beds of background strings tug at the heart like a sleepy kitten does a ball of twine or a mouse toy. Bits of brass don't bark, but instead sing sweetly, and everywhere there is pretty piano plinking, adding sparkling dimension, depth, color, and shade. For all his lyrical disquiet, the puzzling Pernice is just as in love with undeniably up, contrarily catchy, harmonically developed pop, the kind the late '60s offered. The singer admits a love of the pre-disco Bee Gees, Zombies, Beach Boys, and Chris Bell, and he's up to penning songs as subtle, graceful, challenging, and hopeful-sounding as such giants, which casts the opposing emotions of his words in a superbly clever light. Moldy clichés like "there's something about you" (the bouncy "Clear Spot") and "don't ever leave" (the swaying "Dimmest Star") are actually expressions of vulnerable distaste and frustration in his context -- you can all but see him shake his head, frown, and wince! From the crystal melodies of "Crestfallen," "Monkey Suit," and "Wait to Stop" and the slower, somber, greenhouse-gorgeous "Overcome by Happiness" and "Chicken Wire," this shy man has made a near-perfect modern songsmith swoon album. ~ Jack Rabid, All Music Guide
