Yours, Mine & Ours

Pernice Brothers

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 20, 2003)
• Original Release Date: May 20, 2003
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Ashmont Records
• ASIN: B000095J6M
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #91,505 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
Some artists spend their entire careers exploring the tension between gorgeous melodies and depressing lyrics. Former Scud Mountain Boy Joe Pernice has demonstrated that he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as such the masters of the field as Scott Walker, Stephen Merritt, and Morrissey. On his first seven albums, Pernice crafted lovely, dark, and often funny pop- and country-tinged ballads with choruses like "I hate my life." He made videos where his band rescues Death from the side of the road, then plays Frisbee with him. But on his eighth album, Pernice allows something very strange to creep into his music: joy. "Won't you come unbury me" he sings on the power-pop opener, "Weakest Shade of Blue." No, he hasn't suddenly morphed into Christopher Cross (there is that chanting chorus of "Cut the baby in two"), but this is largely a happy album. The backing musicians, meanwhile, have discovered an adventurous meeting place between the Smiths' guitar-driven anthems, the Zombies' vocally intricate garage-pop, and melt-in-your-mouth '70s Quaalude rock. --Mike McGonigal

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 4 only because its not long enough, June 20, 2003

By	Argyllsox (New jersey shore) - See all my reviews

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

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Keeps Getting Better, May 23, 2003

By	"pmacfunk" (Fairfax, Ca United States) - See all my reviews

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.

12 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The BEST album of 2003., July 21, 2004

By	Donkey Dick (Blubber Land) - See all my reviews

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.