Now here’s a band that lends itself to metaphor.<\/p>\n
With taffy melodies that stretch and twist, the Pernice Brothers
\nlay dreamy guitar licks over a steady backbeat as Joe Pernice’s
\nbreathy tenor leads the way, a lighthouse beacon cutting through a
\nthick fog.<\/p>\n
Or did I mean similie? Listening to this band is like listening
\nto the Jayhawks on an acid bender, to The Band through a spinning
\nkaleidoscope, or to the bastard child of the Byrds and Roger Waters
\nexorcising his every romantic demon.<\/p>\n
Psychedelic Americana? Spaced-out jangle-pop? Yup, that too.<\/p>\n
Pernice Brothers is primarily a vehicle for singer-songwriter
\nJoe Pernice’s lush, intriguing compositions. However, the band —
\nbrother Bob Pernice (guitar), Peyton Pinkerton (guitar), Thom
\nMonahan (bass\/production), Laura Stein (keyboards) and Mike
\nBelitsky (drums) – is a large, tight unit, giving the group, at
\nleast in the sense of their creative architecture, somewhat of a
\nCounting Crows vibe.<\/p>\n
As for the music, it’s pretty cool stuff, once you adapt to this
\nband’s distinctive approach. Despite the strong backbeats of tracks
\nlike “The Weakest Shade Of Blue,” “Water Ban” and “Sometimes I
\nRemember,” there are virtually no hard edges here; it’s all soft
\ncurves and supple melodies. The heavier tracks feature eloquent
\nguitar lines over a thumping rhythm section, yet still manage to
\ncome off ethereal and haunting (I keep thinking Cowboy Junkies, but
\nthe Pernice Brothers somehow turn the trick of being almost as
\npretty, yet considerably heavier).<\/p>\n
The lyrics are impressionistic poetry (“So familiar that it
\nfeels too strange, give a name to this terrifying change”) that’s
\ntypically introverted and serious (“\u2026so close, you sleep \/
\nAnd I don’t always mind the quiet that it brings”), but
\noccasionally adds in a dash of irony (“I’ll save you from the
\ndreamy life”\u2026not). There’s an edge of despair to songs like
\n“Baby In Two” and “How To Live Alone” (not to mention anger in the
\nclosing “Number Two,” in which Joe calls his ex a “life-sucking
\npower monger”\u2026tell us how you *really* feel), but the
\nbrightness of the melodies inevitably counterbalances Pernice’s
\ndarker obsessions.<\/p>\n
If there’s a flaw here, it’s the distance between band and
\naudience that’s sometimes created by the somewhat gauzy production.
\nThat adds to the dreaminess of memorable tracks like “Blinded By
\nThe Stars,” to be sure, but I guess I’m one of those
\near-candy-addicted listeners who prefers a punchier, more
\nthree-dimensional sound. Admittedly, this is a matter of taste.<\/p>\n
This is a unique and rewarding album that should appeal to
\nanyone who enjoys jangly rock with a distinctive point of view. As
\ndistant as the Pernice Brothers are musically from the acerbic
\nguitar-pop of bands like Fountains of Wayne, they share a certain
\naesthetic — a belief that rock and roll can be used as a vehicle
\nto express serious ideas and convey real, complicated emotions.<\/p>\n
\nYours, Mine & Ours<\/i> is well worth giving a spin, a
\nlanguid yet intense dreamscape that will cling to your imagination
\nfor hours after the music fades.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":26571,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7575],"rating":[5613],"class_list":["post-37813","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-pernice-brothers","rating-rating-a-minus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37813","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37813"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/37813\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37813"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=37813"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=37813"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}