Smiths fans of the world, unite – Mozza has an American lO-fi, folk-rock counterpart. Just as Morrissey put the M in Manchester, ALEXANDER BRITTON puts the B into West Bridgford, and The Pernice Brothers into perspective. If there’s something you’d like to try, ask him he won’t say no, how could he?
Pernice Brothers – Goodbye, Killer
Released: 14/6/10
For all the complaints about a grating voice, an overly maudlin outlook, and an outspoken mind, Morrissey is capable of encapsulating a sentiment with a level of grace to which many writers can only aspire. After Morrissey, the songwriter and the poet could not be one and the same, for any attempt to recount a feeling – love, loss or self-pity – would only be inferior to that offered by ‘the pope of mope.’ Therefore, it was with a certain level of unease that I first listened to Pernice Brothers’ 2001 album The World Won’t End, assured by a friend that “this guy Joe Pernice, he’s just like an American Morrissey without the flailing.”
My friend wasn’t wrong. Joe Pernice is a man who was clearly brought up on a diet which consisted of mixtapes littered with Smiths songs and 70s soft-rock and country; how else could one craft the delicious vocal harmonies delivering the cripplingly poignant line “contemplating suicide or a graduates’ degree/answers ‘How’s it going’ with ‘I feel sullen, I feel sullen, I feel seventeen” on Working Girls? In any case, Joe Pernice has been writing beautiful pop-country songs with the Pernice Brothers for over a decade, and latest album Goodbye, Killer fuses songs which hark back to their former, more country-induced sound with more upbeat, rock n’ roll tracks.
Beginning with Bechamel, a gentle acoustic-driven track which showcases the band’s sense of harmony and melody, Goodbye, Killer soon takes a turn for the upbeat, with lead single Jacqueline Susann. A sharp riff is soon joined by a steady bass line and driving percussion, but the harshness of lines such as “sucking on a frozen latte/you may as well suck my blood”, in which Joe almost spits out every syllable, only serves to offer a stark contrast with the beautifully brief and melody-laden chorus.
The most delicate moment of the album, and without a doubt the highlight, is Not The Loving Kind, in which a fragile Joe Pernice pleas “don’t think I’m cruel”, before admitting “I’ve been through this too many times to bullshit you.” His voice soars above a gently strummed verse, with smooth electric guitar melodies bookending each line, before, to a simple backdrop, he confesses, “it can’t be fixed with time/I’d love you if I was the loving kind.”
Despite the lack of a thread within Goodbye, Killer – the album oscillates between foot-stomping rock n’ roll and almost whispered acoustic ballad – this pastiche of styles shows the Brothers are just as capable of writing 4-minutes of perfect pop (Something for You) as folk-laden ballads (End of Faith). Goodbye, Killer is akin to a Pernice Brothers’ Best of compilation, inasmuch as these ten well-crafted songs contain elements of Pernice past and Pernice present, all underpinned by intelligent lyrics and a knowledge of the recipe for the perfect pop song.
Pernice Brothers – Jacqueline Susann
By Alexander Britton
Tags: bechamel, goodbye, jacqueline susann, killer, morrissey, pernice brothers, review, the smiths
