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YOURS, MINE & OURS
(ASHMONT)
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Joe Pernice has come a long way from the spare, alterna-country brooding of his first band, the Scud Mountain Boys. Although his is still a melancholy music, it has gained depth and color and is no longer spare. His third release as leader of the Pernice Brothers loosens up on the meticulously arranged chamber pop of their first two albums. Yours, Mine & Ours still sounds like the work of a crafty perfectionist, with its pitch-perfect harmonies and carefully plucked guitar tones. But it feels more like Pernice backed by a real live working band instead of the result of weeks of meticulous studio overdubbing. Pernice’s breathy, dominating tenor has an Elvis Costello quality, and that fits with his sense of songcraft. He can also bring to mind a less whiny Morrissey, and indeed, you’d think the Pernice Brothers had been digging into old Smiths albums of late, since several tracks, notably the fuzz-guitar-dominated "One Foot in the Grave" and the ballad "Judy," echo the sensitive-maleness of the one-time rulers of the Manchester scene. But Pernice’s wry wit remains intact: "Baby in Two" finds him making cheeky reference to the David Essex hit "Rock On" against a mid-tempo groove reminiscent of the AM-radio classic "Blinded by the Stars."
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