Customer Reviews

Yours, Mine & Ours

5 star:		(23)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Joe Pernice has got to be one of America's best songwriters. I don't think he has done a bad song yet. Either alone or with the Scud Mountain boys. He is a true treasure everyone should know about.

1) The weakest shade of blue: perfect example of a "no depression" style think Jayhawks. Killer hooks, catchy as hell chorus.

2) Water Ban: once again killer hooks, brilliant harmonies.

3) One foot in the grave: rockin, catchy, excellent tune, top down driving in the summer. Great!

4) Baby in two: The highlight of the CD. Possibly one of the best songs to come out in 2003. Just killer!

5) Blinded by the stars: not missing a beat here killer hooks, choruses that stay in your head forever. Perfect.

6) Waiting for the universe: rockin tune, great hook.

7) Judy: another gem, second best on the CD. lonely, in love.

8) Sometime I remember: switched up a bit, Wilco like, but still good.

9) How to live alone: saddest song I have heard. Great, amazing melody, beautiful.

10) Number two: perfect finish, saying good-bye to the day. Warm, soft, longing, painful, beautiful.

This CD is obviously hook laden and just feels like summer. sorry for the repetitive review, wish i could say more, but it truly is just one amazingly catchy, singable, intelligent batch of songs on par with their prior CD. lyrics are amazing, funny, twisted but all beautiful. Its sort of a blend between the smiths, the smithereens and the Jayhawks. Buy this CD now

The sad truth is that no one will appreciate what a wonderful songwriter Joe Pernice is until he's sitting in a rocking chair sucking on ice cubes. It'll be the year 2063 and some crappy band called Astrobutt will cover one of the gems on "Your Mine & Ours" and suddenly every pretentious Rolling Stone, Spin, and CMJ writer will gush about how great and under appreciated he was. The truth is that since the Scud Mountain Boys "Massachusetts" (one of the top 10 albums of the '90s, you can't argue that) through Big Tabacco and the Pernice Brothers "The World Won't End", Joe Pernice has consistently provided us with some of the best broken-hearted-emotive-cry-in-your-beer pop songs.

"Yours Mine & Ours" continues Joe's run as the best thing you haven't heard of. If you're thinking of buying this album, do it. You'll be happy you did. The album is chock full of the 70's AM radio melodies that you just can't get out of your head delivered in Pernices trade mark breathy/throaty vocals. It's guitar pop that's true to itself. It knows what it is and why it's good. It doesn't try to convince you that it's hip or wry or clever. Why this record isn't being added to radio playlists all over the country as an antidote to the soul crushing mediocrity of Cold and Kelly Clarkson will be a mystery that haunts Joe Pernice into his rocking chair days.

When I hear someone say "pop" music I usually think of the homogonized recapitulated garbage that is on the current and never-changing playlist at any of the zillions of radio stations in the US. Clearly Joe Pernice doesn't care. If you thought it would be hard to top 2001's "The World Won't End" and it's lush, even orchestral arrangements, you were correct. Guess who did it? The Pernice Brothers. "Yours, Mine & Ours" is a step away from the simple-sweet overtones in TWWE. The album boasts more great songs from lyricist extrodinaire Pernice. Even better is the production by band member Thom Monahan. Though the melodies have changed from TWWE, "Yours, Mine & Ours" offers a great variety of emotion and sound.

Joe Pernice is definitely one of the best songwriters alive today. Yours, Mine & Ours is another great album in his catalog (could even be the best, although I will see how it stands the test of time). From the first listen, you know you must own this album. The opening track, Weakest Shade of Blue, is reminiscent of many songs Joe has penned before, except he is now allowing little rays of happiness creep into his music...and the fun does not end there. As with most of Joe's albums, there is not a bad song anywhere to be found and it leaves struggling amature musicians, like myself, wondering how it comes so effortlessly for Joe. For fans, you already have this..but for newbies to the Pernice world, or anyone else interested in good, pure songrwriting...pick this one up. Ultimately this is a really fun Sunday drive with the windows down album.

Joe Pernice has been making music for years, first with the Scud Mountain Boys (never heard), then solo as Chappaquiddick Skyline (boring, too melodramatic), then solo again under his own name, and now as The Pernice Brothers (Bob Pernice is also in the band). Their first album, "Overcome By Happiness" is poorly produced and way too influenced by 1970's folk nitwits, akin to Velvet Crush's latest abomination, "Soft Sounds," or what I like to think of as the missing Cat Stevens LP.

I know, what a way to star a 5-star review, but you know me, I hate life and I'm never happy with anything. Get used to it.

Anyway, "Yours, Mine & Ours" is the sort of album that completely slips by you upon first listen. It's not very original, the songs are all mid-tempo or slower, and the instrumentation is very subdued. But it's one of those miraculous records that inexplicably compels you to keep listening, keep listening, keep listening -- until you come to the conclusion that it contains no bad songs and is one of the most gorgeous things you've ever heard.

At least that's the effect I would HOPE it would have on you.

Seriously, this is one is a revelation for me, one of those most perfect pop-rock albums I've ever heard. It's sad, beautiful, yet something I must listen to at least a few times a week (and every time it finishes, I spin it one more time). It makes my heart ache and my fingers drum on my desk. It got me from Kentucky to Colorado a few weeks ago, when I was very, very alone, and I thank it for that. I know many people won't be as passionate about this album as I am, and maybe certain circumstances have caused me to overdramatize its effect, but so be it, I go with what I feel.

If you like aging power-pop guys who've started injecting their songs with more folky overtones (ie., "Songs From Northern Britain"-era Teenage Fanclub, but with better lyrics and less Byrds-worship), this is a must for you. If you like melodies, hooks, and PROFOUND BEAUTY, this is a must for you. "Yours, Mine, & Ours" was, in my book, the best album of 2003, and it's a shame I didn't pick it up until 2004.

I got this album without having heard it or any of Joe Pernice's music before, on the basis of a series of reviews which made it sound like something I'd like. I'm pleased to say it was an inspired decision - this is gorgeous, shimmering pop music. Half way through the first verse of 'Weaker Shade of Blue', with its Byrds/Beach Boys style wall-of-harmonies, a big dumb grin was already forming on my face, and it stayed there for most of the rest of the CD.

These are songs so perfectly formed that after a couple of listens it's like you've heard them hundreds of times before; as if they'd always existed somewhere in your unconscious waiting to be discovered.

The mood moves between melancholy, bitterness and dreamy romanticism, but is sensitive and articulate throughout. There's a definite suggestion of The Smiths here - both musically and in the occasional resemblance of Joe Pernice's voice to Morrissey's - while 'Sometimes I Remember' has more than an echo of The Cure's 'In Between Days'. But there's also an American directness and vigour about the music, particularly the rhythm section, which keeps things moving forward.

Imperfections: the album could have done with one more upbeat song (there are only three) to provide better balance. For those who like their music edgier, it's also not hard to see all how the dreamy prettiness could get a bit much. But if you're quite happy with things never straying too far from pure pop, Yours, Mine & Ours will do nicely.

It's summer here; there's a light breeze and the sun is reflecting off the sea. I'm putting the CD back to track 1; the opening chords of 'Weaker Shade of Blue' are starting up, and I can feel a dumb grin coming on...

Building from the previous release, the superb "The World Won't End", Yours, Mine & Ours is as advertized on its cover. Each song is melodic fireworks that simply aches with painstaking beauty. A solid rhythm section keeps the whole thing pushing insistently forward, never letting it become too precious. That said Joe is one smoooth singer who has the pipes to deliver his happy sad lyrics in a controlled but never mannered style. Thom Monahan's production of this material is crisp and clear without sounding overdone. This is one professional sounding record which should give all notice that indie doesn't necessary mean it has to sound cheap. Favorite songs? I like it it from beginning to end! Songs to note are Weaker Shade of Blue - which had me reaching for the liner notes to see if a sober Bob Pollard had stopped in (nope, just Joe!), Baby in Two, Waiting For The Universe, Sometimes I Remember, and the so wrong it's right Number Two. If you want well crafted pop that splits the difference between strength and subtlety, this is "Yours, Mine & Ours"!

I've never been a huge fan of the Pernice Brothers - I mean, I bought the last 2 albums, and I liked them, but I never played them very often after the rush of the first few days. Something there kept me at a distance: too lush, perhaps, or not quite enough catchy hooks. But this new album is much, much better. Let's put it this way: if you listen to the first minute of the first song, you'll know whether this album is for you or not. It's an astonishingly good song - energetic, brimming with melodies, wonderfully produced, and with great lyrics. And what's even more remarkable is that that standard is maintained through each of the 10 tracks here. If there's another band on the planet right now who could make a record this good to listen to, I'll be amazed.

Ours

Firstly, the album is exceptional.

Secondly, this is why :

Wearing hearts on sleeves can be a dangerous business. Literally ( You'll die ). So why does Joe Pernice make it OK. It's simple. Because you want to hear it.

Right now, Joe has unwittingly documented most of my life in his songs and with ' Your, mine and ours ' he continues to do so. With the heartbreaking' Baby in Two ' he's sings of loss and regret but also of frustration and giving up. He does it so delicately he makes you glad you've shared these experiences until you begin to cry for him, and then for you, and then just for the sake of it. He even references the largest body of water in my locality ( The Irish Sea ) in ' Weakest Shade of Blue ' . He says he's as 'lonely as it' , which whatever it means, doesn't ruin a great song.. Continuing on from the 'perfect' pop of the last album, the songs are again neatly divided into different categories : Fast ( Waiting for the Universe to die - Weaker Shade - One Foot in the Grave ), Slow ( Baby in two - How to say Good-bye ) and the Grand sweeping mix of the two ( Number Two ) with it's knife like lyric exposing every raw nerve that the album sought out from the word go.. It was my album of last year. And even though it wouldn't qualify on anyone else's list, it's my album of this year too..

That's the opening line on the first song, "The Weakest Shade of Blue." My advice: GO! This is a gem of a record-bright, shiny, shimmering, rock-influenced pop. Intricate melodies, often ambiguous lyrics, and glorious vocals, played and sung with a controlled restraint that shows the band knows how to construct a song. Produced by band members Thom Monahan and Joe Pernice, you know they took a lot of care putting this together, and it's obvious they paid attention to every detail. A great cd by a great band--highly recommended!