Wow! I can’t believe
how long it has been since I lasted posted.
My apologies to my follower! ;o)
There has been a lot going on personally and professionally, so the blog
took a step to the side for a while until I could sort some things. I’m really, really hoping to finish this blog
this year. I think that’s a reasonable
goal, seeing as I have 83 remaining albums to hear. The only foreseeable problem will be access
to certain records, but I’ll keep you posted.
Today’s entry will focus on the band The Pernice
Brothers. Joe Pernice started the band
in the mid-1990s after the breakup of his previous band; his brother Bob also
is in the band, though this is mostly Joe’s beacon. They have been performing on and off since
forming, having released seven studio albums.
Rather than sticking to the alt-country style of his old band, the Scud
Mountain Boys, Pernice has written songs in a more pop rock style, but he
hasn’t totally abandoned those roots, incorporating some alt-country sounds
here and there.
The Pernice Brothers’ earlier material received generally
positive reviews. Their later material
has been decidedly mixed. I don’t want
to speculate on that, not being totally familiar with their material. Yours,
Mine & Ours, however, I have heard multiple times now and really
enjoy. Here’s my take.
#44 – The Pernice
Brothers, Yours, Mine & Ours
(Metascore = 88)
Of the albums that I have heard to date through this blog,
the closest entrant would be Fountains of Wayne’s Welcome Interstate Managers, which I reviewed eons ago. My first impression of Yours, Mine & Ours was “this sounds like an improved-upon Welcome Interstate Managers”. Yours,
Mine & Ours and Welcome
Interstate Managers were actually released within weeks of each other in
late spring 2003. Actually there are
quite a few characteristics that each shares:
both bands formed in the Northeast U.S. (FoW in NYC, PB in
Massachusetts); both bands formed in 1996; and, both bands’ sound are quite
similar, taking pop rock but adding some alt-country elements to it.
What I like about Yours,
Mine & Ours over Welcome
Interstate Managers, however, is the overall polish of the sound and the
stronger lyrical qualities. Each song
has a steady beat with a strong backing group to support Joe’s love visions post-9/11. If you take a look at the Pernice Brothers’
website in the discography (www.pernicebrothers.com/discography/),
you can read the press release that Joe penned for the record where he talks
about his reactions to 9/11, a renewed focus to enjoy what he has, the life
he’s been given. Pernice imbues these
feelings into the songs on this record starting with album opener “The Weakest
Shade of Blue”. You hear the alt-country
in the music when “Water Ban” comes on, with the pedal steel and melodic
beat. But by and large this is a pop
rock sound that evokes the Byrds of the mid-1960s (another great comparison).
Intentionally or unintentionally, this record never really
took off in terms of popularity, the one defining difference between the
Pernice Brothers and Fountains of Wayne.
With “Stacy’s Mom” as the first single, Welcome Interstate Managers took off in the charts and Fountains of
Wayne’s popularity soared. While I have
always thought that the ultimate goal for a music artist (particularly a rock
artist) was having many, many people listening to and purchasing your music, I
also know that artists crave artistic control, too (unless they’ve sold
themselves to the corporate machine, but that’s a whole different issue). Perhaps that is the case with Yours, Mine & Ours. It’s not as if the album doesn’t have any
potential hit singles—“The Weakest Shade of Blue” and “Baby in Two” (a great
Elliott Smith-sounding tune) are fantastic tunes that probably could have done
well that year. But the fact is that Joe
Pernice had just started his own record company, Ashmont Records, and funds
were probably limited for a big time press release. This is too bad, really; Yours, Mine & Ours is a fantastic record.
