Sub Pop records started a major musical trend when it released
\nNirvana’s breakthrough album,
\nBleach<\/i>. Could they be starting another trend in an entirely
\ndifferent direction with the release of the Pernice Brothers’ new
\nalbum,
\nOvercome By Happiness<\/i>? Joe Pernice, formerly of the
\ncountry-rock band, The Scud Mountain Boys, has teamed up with his
\nbrother Bob to give us mellow melodic folk-pop with a twist.<\/p>\n
On this album, you will hear jangling guitars all over the place
\nbacked up by an orchestra with string flourishes, some horn parts,
\nand a good dose of piano. But as beautiful as the music is, and as
\ndreamy as Joe Pernice’s wispy voice can be, there is some bite to
\nthe lyrics that keep everything from getting too mushy. The sound
\nreminds me at times of the Smithereens in their more mellow
\nmoments, and this album has melodies that the Smithereens’ leader
\nPat DiNunzio would kill to have written.<\/p>\n
The album will hook you from the beginning with the cloying
\nmelody of “Crestfallen” which is about lost love, and the singer
\nhas a few parting shots as he sings “It’s hard to read a simple
\nmind.” The song ends with a string instrumental interlude that
\nreminds you that this is no ordinary pop album. Then comes the
\ntitle tune with its somewhat loungey feel. I like the chorus with
\ncontains a jangly guitar part that just shimmers. This is the
\nprettiest song about a loser that I’ve ever heard.<\/p>\n
My choice for the single would be “Clear Spot” because this
\npiano-based midtempo song is probably the most straightforward of
\nthe bunch. There is some nice bass work on this song from Thom
\nMonahan. Other highlights include “Dimmest Star”, an achingly
\nbeautiful song that sounds like it was written by Brian Wilson for
\nthe
\nPet Sounds<\/i> album, even boasting similiar harmonies. Quite a
\nfew people will identify with “Monkey Suit”, another appealing
\nmidtempo song that skewers the white collar workplace.<\/p>\n
As you figured out by now, the Pernice Brothers are attempting
\nto combine the feel of sixties music with the attitude of the
\nnineties. Song after song, they succeed with flying colors. The
\nonly weak songs in the bunch are “Sick Of You” which is a short
\nthrowaway, and the last song, “Ferris Wheel” which is just too slow
\nand not very interesting.<\/p>\n
So is
\nOvercome By Happiness<\/i> the next
\nBleach<\/i>? Doubtful. Despite a few similiarities in the lyrics,
\nThe Pernice Brothers’ subversiveness is way too subtle. But who
\nknows? If swing music can come back, can gentle sixties pop be too
\nfar behind? And subversion never went down as easy as it does on
\nthis album.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":17,"featured_media":27997,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"artist":[7575],"rating":[5646],"class_list":["post-39389","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-the-pernice-brothers","rating-rating-a"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39389","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\/17"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/39389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27997"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=39389"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=39389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}