Customer Reviews

The World Won't End

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I'm not sure how Joe Pernice channeled the Zombies or Big Star, but I don't care either. The first three or four songs are sweeping guitar pop symphonies outrageous in their poppy pathos. Pernice, indeed, sounds quite a bit like the smooth, seductive Colin Bluntstone throughout these songs--a fact I never noticed during his days on Scud Mountain. The fifth song will cause Wilco to tear their hair out and hire Jeff Lynne. Though his lyrics are lachrymose and morbid, they are so admittedly ("this fascination with the moribund"), and there's a great sense of fun in that. The only missteps here are one or two ballads (Shaken Baby is one), with gross jazzy chords tipping the mood into maudlin. Pernice can write this stuff in his sleep and it bogged down his Scud Mountain stuff, too.

Thom Monihan's production is stellar, crisp and full throughout: Pernice's distinct vocals swoon atop layers of guitar, piano, organ, and strings. Extremely tasty. This record was a real surprise.

...Joe Pernice has probably had pictures taken of me so his security detail can be on the lookout for me. I always walk up to him at his shows and blather about his incredible ability to communicate all of the varying feelings of sadness and hopelessness. What makes his ability special is that he does this while maintaining a top shelf sense of humor and sunny sense of melody. It's understandable that he would think I'm nutty by all of my gushing and stammering.

The new record is chock full of gems. It's musically different than "Overcome By Happiness"; deeper and amazingly catchy without being obvious. While some records cram the best two or three up top, the Pernice crew makes it back-heavy. "Shaken Baby", "Flaming Wreck", and "The Ballad of Bjorn Bjorg" are my favorites and are near the end amongst a record full of good songs. I challenge anyone to get the melody and harmonies out of their head after hearing "Shaken Baby." The forlorn "hello, hello" at the crescendo in "Flaming Wreck" is so beautiful and intense. And "The Ballad of Bjorn Bjorg" is a cleverly constructed metaphor detailing Bjorn Borg losing it at his peak and dropping out of sight. Joe applies the idea to a failed relationship with devastating effect on your heart.

The language in the lyrics has gotten simpler but not any less sublime. "Working Girls" shows the desperate interior of a woman stuck in a 9-5 job with stunning simplicity: "She summered every winter through a calendar from paradise A cheap dress-up temp job, and a tan by cold fluorescent light 'Anticipation' playing from a radio, it mocks her life."

I urge you to add this cd to your collection if serious songcraft is your bag. It doesn't get much better than this. But if it does, I believe Joe Pernice will be the one to best it.

The Pernice Brothers have released 11 new tracks of pure melody,glorious harmonies and gentle guitar rock.It's hard to find even one weak track on this c.d. and yet there are a number of strong stand out tracks that if they were given the proper exposure in the media would make this one of the biggest albums of the year.I still think this will rank in one of my top ten c.d.'s of the year so far.

The Pernice Brothers sound very much like The Byrds,Fountains Of Wayne or Teenage Fanclub.Lots of guitars give this a modern alt-rock sound and on other occasions they can have a country/rock feel.The vocals are wondrous,especially the multi-layered harmonies which really are the best I've heard from any one c.d. in a long time.It ain't all about guitars either-plenty of keyboards and piano and several people to give a helping hand on percussion.Strings also add to give a more lush sound from time to time.All the songs have that 4 minute structure of verse,sub-chorus,chorus feel to them.They don't rely on instrumental solo's to break the songs.Usually these breaks are built around vocal variations.Lyrically it's got a fairly up-beat feel to it,yet they manage to sound quite chirpy and cheerful even when the songs are about loss.The stand out tracks for me (and there are quite a few) are "Bryte Side" and "Flaming Wreck".

This c.d. is a wonderful 40 minuted of musical pleasure and this c.d. could go on given the right exposure to be a sountrack for the summer.Definitely worth investigating.

Like just about every other band once lumped into the alt.country genre, Massachusetts' Pernice Brothers leans a lot more these days on alt than it does on country, fashioning a new category of cocktail-lounge lush but not unsophisticated pop. Joe Pernice's breathy croon recalls Colin Blunstone at his sexiest, and his songs - which are often decorated with strummy guitars, heavenly harmonies and strings that add texture not glop - do not shy away from prettiness. Whether it's in a wry turn of phrase or in a nifty guitar lick (check the buzzy runs throughout "Let That Show"), every single one of these tracks has a most definable hook, their gorgeous melodies wafting over you like a welcome cool breeze on a sweltering summer afternoon. Frankly, listening to "The World Won't End," I am overcome by happiness.

I am a Pernice fan and have most of the albums dating back to the Scud Mountain Boys' Pine Box. I loved the Scuds and thought that the later projects never found themselves as completely as the Scuds did with Massachusetts. This one changed my mind. It is gripping from the simplest toe-tapping level down to the more complex emotional ones (of those I've discovered so far, at least). I love it and I haven't felt this way about a record since OK Computer.

While not as immediately absorbing as "Overcome by Happiness" or even the Chappaquiddick Skyline side-trip, this new cd does contain some beautifully crafted pop songs. As Always, Joe's lyrics are worth looking at after a few plays--they're smart and clever. Hooks galore, sugary harmonies, and lush arrangements (including strings!). Certainly worth the price of admission.

This album is a grower. In these times of instant gratification, you may miss what Joe is creating. Solid lyrics run up against fantastic muscianship wonderfully produced. I find the whole dark lyric against uplifting music thing that the Bros do to be endlessly interesting. Yes, it is all cut from the same stone but that stone is marble! If only every album about "relationships" was this nuanced! I won't get into influences since this collection is so far above the mere name check. We are talking Dan Bejar level synthesis. If you need an older point of reference, let's say Elvis Costello but with a more late 70's country/rock slant. Simply the Pernice Bros are an insightful lyricist/talented singer backed by a superlative backing band. If you want something that lasts after the initial glow, this is certainly one of that slim number! This album of guitar pop gets better every time I hear it. Can't say that about many "good" records.

This is a meticulously arranged and recorded, consistently strong collection of tuneful pop songs. Almost all of these songs deserve repeated listenings. My only criticism lies with the unvarying soft breathy vocal technique, and similarity of tempo and structure. A little variation might enhance the material. On the other hand, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Minor criticisms aside, this is still one of the best releases of 2001.

Although this wasn't the best record of 2001, if you really do think about not many people can name a record that is more consistent from beginning to end. The only consistent complaint I have seen has been that his voice is too soft, which is truly a shame. His voice does have a very soft quality to it, but it goes along with the nature of the music. To tell you the truth, if I wanted one voice in the indie pop world to be fronting my band it would be his. His band doesn't really "rock out" it just plays perfect pop tunes. This album will be one that I will be going back to for a long time and I really hope people start picking up on this band. I really have no idea why this band wouldn't have major label backing. Can't wait to hear the new one.

Immaculate.Normally that's a turnoff for me. So many pop records I've listened to were hailed by critics as that. Every note in the right place. Off the top of my head I'm thinking of a lot of power pop bands. The Posies for one. But their records to me fall flat in the end because there are maybe two moments on the record that feel truly human.

This record--- on every song there is something in the lyrics or in the music that pretty much rips my heart out like it's a page from my life. And the whole thing works together as an amazing concept album. (An even more depressing concept album if you play it in the sequence of the inside lyrics). I don't mean a concept album like Floyd with flying pigs. But I personally think every "great" album has to have songs that connect by some spiritual conceptual thread. And this one does it. That's why it's so much better than even the great Overcome by Happiness--- wherein half the songs sound like spectacularly great singles which made the others feel like just filler. This album lets every song breathe and be itself. Anyway, buy it. If you like it work backwards and buy everything by Joe. The man has a grasp on the human condition like no other.